title: Making lignin accessible for anaerobic digestion by wet-explosion pretreatment.
abstract: Lignin is a major part of the recalcitrant fraction of lignocellulose and in nature its degradation occurs through oxidative enzymes along with microbes mediated oxidative chemical actions. Oxygen assisted wet-explosion pretreatment promotes lignin solubility and leads to an increase biodegradation of lignin during anaerobic digestion processes. The pretreatment of feedlot manure was performed in a 10L reactor at 170°C for 25min using 4bars oxygen and the material was fed to a continuous stirred tank reactor operated at 55°C for anaerobic digestion. Methane yield of untreated and pretreated material was 70±27 and 320±36L/kg-VS/Day, respectively, or 4.5 times higher yield as a result of the pretreatment. Aliphatic acids formed during the pretreatment were utilized by microbes. 44.4% lignin in pretreated material was actually converted in the anaerobic digestion process compared to 12.6% for untreated material indicating the oxygen assisted explosion promoted lignin degradation.
authors.affiliation: Bioproducts, Sciences & Engineering Laboratory (BSEL), Washington State University, USA. Electronic address: bka@wsu.edu.
authors.forename: Birgitte K
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Ahring
authors.affiliation: Bioproducts, Sciences & Engineering Laboratory (BSEL), Washington State University, USA.
authors.forename: Rajib
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Biswas
authors.affiliation: Bioproducts, Sciences & Engineering Laboratory (BSEL), Washington State University, USA.
authors.forename: Aftab
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ahamed
authors.affiliation: Bioproducts, Sciences & Engineering Laboratory (BSEL), Washington State University, USA.
authors.forename: Philip J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Teller
authors.affiliation: Section for Sustainable Biotechnology, Aalborg University Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Hinrich
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Uellendahl
mesh_terms: D000693:Anaerobiosis; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D056804:Biofuels; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D005232:Fatty Acids, Volatile / Q000378:metabolism; D008031:Lignin / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D008372:Manure / Q000382:microbiology; D008697:Methane / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D012995:Solubility; D013696:Temperature; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels; D005232:Fatty Acids, Volatile; D008372:Manure; C036909:lignocellulose; D008031:Lignin; D008697:Methane
keywords: Anaerobic digestion; Feedlot manure; Methane; Sustainability; Wet explosion pretreatment