Multi-Criteria Analysis of the Influence of Lignocellulosic Biomass Pretreatment Techniques on Methane Production

Abstract

Methane from environmentally friendly anaerobic digestion may be an alternative non-renewable source that is depleting. One of the substrates for that process may be lignocellulose-based materials. The article concerns comparing the environmental impact as well as technical and energy indicators of alternative ways of producing methane from the anaerobic digestion of Pennisetum hybrid. Five scenarios were analyzed: methane production from the anaerobic digestion of the raw grass, the grass subjected to alkaline pretreatment (with 2% NaOH solution at two temperatures), and the grass subjected to mechanical pretreatment (ground to obtain particle sizes Pennisetum hybrid pretreatment in order to optimize the methane production process in terms of environmental, technical, and economic aspects. According to the obtained results, it was stated that the most advantageous solution for the majority of the analyzed indicators turned out to be the mechanical pretreatment with grinding the lignocellulosic biomass into a particle size <0.18 mm.

Keywords

• bioenergy
• lignocellulosic biomass pretreatment
• <i>Pennisetum hybrid</i>
• methane production
• anaerobic digestion
• multi-criteria analysis