Benefits of pretreated water hyacinth for enhanced anaerobic digestion and biogas production

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the potential of water hyacinth (WH) for biogas production. For this, three sample combinations were studied. Each combination comprised WH in quantities of 50, 30, and 20 g and was mixed with 30 g of cow dung inoculum to form samples C1, C2, and C3, respectively. The pretreatment effect was assessed by subjecting samples C1-C3 to H2SO4 pretreatment at a 5% v/v concentration for 60 min. Their productivity was then compared with that of untreated samples. The pretreatment method altered the cellulose presence and chemical oxygen demand in the samples. The biogas production rate was calculated for different water hyacinth doses. The results showed that the treated samples produced 128% more biogas than the untreated ones. Sample C1 produced the highest biogas productivity of 210 mL (65% methane) on the 15th day. Moreover, the treatment increased the accumulated biogas productivity by approximately 24%. This practical approach confirmed the potential of water hyacinth and its treatment for biogas production.

Keywords

• Biogas production
• Biomass
• Waste to energy
• Methane