title: Seasonal variation of chemical composition and biomethane production from the brown seaweed Ascophyllum nodosum.
abstract: Ascophyllum nodosum, an abundant Irish brown seaweed, shows significant seasonal variation in chemical composition and biogas production. The polyphenol content is shown to be a more important factor in biogas production than ash content. High polyphenol content in summer months adversely affected biogas production; suggesting two potential harvest dates, March and October. A. nodosum harvested in October showed a relatively low level of polyphenols (2% of TS) and ash (23% of volatile solids), and exhibited a specific methane yield of 215LCH4kgVS(-1), which was 44% of theoretical yield. The highest yield per wet weight of 47m(3)CH4t(-1) was achieved in October, which is 2.9 times higher than the lowest value (16m(3)CH4t(-1)), obtained in December. The gross energy yield of A. nodosum based on the optimal biogas production can achieve 116GJha(-1)yr(-1) in October.
authors.affiliation: MaREI Centre, Environmental Research Institute, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
authors.forename: Muhammad Rizwan
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Tabassum
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Low-grade Energy Utilization Technologies and Systems, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China. Electronic address: aoxia@cqu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Ao
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.affiliation: MaREI Centre, Environmental Research Institute, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland; School of Engineering, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
authors.forename: Jerry D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Murphy
mesh_terms: D044646:Ascophyllum / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D056804:Biofuels; D007494:Ireland; D008697:Methane / Q000378:metabolism*; D059808:Polyphenols / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D012621:Seasons; D012624:Seaweed / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels; D059808:Polyphenols; D008697:Methane
keywords: Algae; Ascophyllum nodosum; Biomethane; Polyphenols; Seaweed