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Food Science 2019
November 11-12, 2019
Food Science and Technology
November 11-12, 2019 | London, UK
3
rd
International Conference on
Volume 3
Applied Food Science Journal
Appl Food Sci J. | Volume 3
Biological pretreatment of lignocellulosic material for increased biogas production byAnaerobic digestion
Jaron C Hansen
Brigham Young University, USA
W
ithout pretreatment, anaerobic digestion of lignocellulosic material typically converts only one-third of the
carbon into biogas which is typically only 60% methane. Physical and chemical pretreatments to increase
biogas production from biomass have proven to be uneconomical. The anaerobic thermophile, Caldicellulosiruptor
bescii, has been shown to be capable of solubilizing up to 90% of lignocellulose, thus making the carbon accessible
for anaerobic digestion. Preliminary experiments show C. bescii is capable of solubilizing a wide range of
lignocellulosic materials. Anaerobic digestion readily and rapidly converts the soluble products into biogas with
70-80% methane. Isothermal microbiocalorimetry measurements have provided a thermodynamic understanding
of the process. We have applied the pretreatment/anaerobic digestion process to giant king grass, corn mash, corn
stover, waste activated sludge (WAS), almond shells and algae and found the biogas yield significantly improved.
Results from experiments conducted using isothermal microbiocalorimetry as well as larger-scale 30L and 60L
reactor pretreatment/anaerobic digestion experiments will be presented.