Trace elements dosing and alkaline pretreatment in the anaerobic digestion of rice straw

• Published in: Bioresource technology 2018-01, Vol.247, p.897-903
• Main Authors: Mancini, Gabriele, Papirio, Stefano, Riccardelli, Gerardo, Lens, Piet N.L., Esposito, Giovanni
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Alkaline pretreatment; Anaerobic digestion; Biogas; Rice straw; Trace elements
• ISSN: 0960-8524; 1873-2976
• DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2017.10.001

[Display omitted] •NaOH pretreatment was more effective than TE addition in improving AD of rice straw.•21.4% enhancement of the biogas production yield was obtained by NaOH pretreatment.•The highest increase with TE (11.6%) was obtained adding 45µg Ni/g TS rice straw.•VFA concentrations after NaOH pretreatment were higher than after TE addition.•No synergistic effect was observed by combining NaOH pretreatment with TE addition. The effect of trace elements (TEs) addition and NaOH pretreatment on the anaerobic digestion of rice straw was investigated in batch tests. Co, Ni and Se were added to the raw rice straw at different dosages. The NaOH pretreatment was applied to the rice straw both alone and in combination with the addition of TEs, in order to evaluate potential synergistic effects of the pretreatment and the TEs supplementation on the biogas production yields. The results obtained showed that the alkaline pretreatment was more effective than the TEs addition in increasing the cumulative biogas production, causing a 21.4% enhancement of the final biomethane yield, whereas the increase due to TEs dosing was not statistically significant. The analysis of volatile fatty acids (VFAs) confirmed that the NaOH pretreatment resulted in a higher production of VFAs, indicating an increased hydrolysis, while TEs addition did not cause significant changes in the VFA concentrations.