Molecules (Feb 2020)

Production of Methane, Hydrogen and Ethanol from <i>Secale cereale</i> L. Straw Pretreated with Sulfuric Acid

  • Jarosław Domański,
  • Olga Marchut-Mikołajczyk,
  • Weronika Cieciura-Włoch,
  • Piotr Patelski,
  • Urszula Dziekońska-Kubczak,
  • Bartłomiej Januszewicz,
  • Bolin Zhang,
  • Piotr Dziugan

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules25041013
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 25, no. 4
p. 1013

Abstract

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The study describes sulfuric acid pretreatment of straw from Secale cereale L. (rye straw) to evaluate the effect of acid concentration and treatment time on the efficiency of biofuel production. The highest ethanol yield occurred after the enzyme treatment at a dose of 15 filter paper unit (FPU) per gram of rye straw (subjected to chemical hydrolysis with 2% sulfuric acid (SA) at 121 °C for 1 h) during 120 h. Anaerobic digestion of rye straw treated with 10% SA at 121 °C during 1 h allowed to obtain 347.42 L methane/kg volatile solids (VS). Most hydrogen was released during dark fermentation of rye straw after pretreatment of 2% SA, 121 °C, 1 h and 1% SA, 121 °C, 2 h—131.99 and 134.71 L hydrogen/kg VS, respectively. If the rye straw produced in the European Union were processed into methane, hydrogen, ethanol, the annual electricity production in 2018 could reach 9.87 TWh (terawatt-hours), 1.16 TWh, and 0.60 TWh, respectively.

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