Effect of chopped maize straw on the quantity and quality of biogas produced

Abstract

The increase in production costs of maize silage intended for biogas has led the producers to look for alternative sources of raw material. One of such materials is straw of agricultural crops, including maize. The use of lignin-cellulose materials, such as straw, by bacteria in a biogas fermenter is limited by its polymer structure. Therefore, it is required to process the straw before it is introduced into the biogas fermenter, which may allow to increase the biogas potential of straw. The simplest way of straw processing is its chopping. On the basis of the obtained results, it can be said that cutting the straw did not help increase the amount of biogas produced, but even limited the potential of this raw material.

Keywords

• maize straw
• fragmentation
• biogas production