Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Biogas and Volatile Fatty Acid Production During Anaerobic Digestion of Straw, Cellulose, and Hemicellulose with Analysis of Microbial Communities and Functions

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The anaerobic digestion efficiency and methane production of straw was limited by its complex composition and structure. In this study, rice straw (RS), cellulose, and hemicellulose were used as raw materials to study biogas production performance and changes in the volatile fatty acids (VFAs). Further, microbial communities and genetic functions were analyzed separately for each material. The biogas production potential of RS, cellulose, and hemicellulose was different, with cumulative biogas production of 283.75, 412.50, and 620.64 mL/(g·VS), respectively. The methane content of the biogas produced from cellulose and hemicellulose was approximately 10% higher than that produced from RS after the methane content stabilized. The accumulation of VFAs occurred in the early stage of anaerobic digestion in all materials, and the cumulative amount of VFAs in both cellulose and hemicellulose was relatively higher than that in RS, and the accumulation time was 12 and 14 days longer, respectively. When anaerobic digestion progressed to a stable stage, Clostridium was the dominant bacterial genus in all three anaerobic digestion systems, and the abundance of Ruminofilibacter was higher during anaerobic digestion of RS. Genetically, anaerobic digestion of all raw materials proceeded mainly via aceticlastic methanogenesis, with similar functional components. The different performance of anaerobic digestion of RS, cellulose, and hemicellulose mainly comes from the difference of composition of raw materials. Increasing the accessibility of cellulose and hemicellulose in RS feedstock by pretreatment is an effective way to improve the efficiency of anaerobic digestion. Since the similar microbial community structure will be acclimated during anaerobic digestion, there is no need to adjust the initial inoculum when the accessibility of cellulose and hemicellulose changes.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

Data Availability

All data of biogas and VFAs generated or analyzed during this study are included in this manuscript. The raw reads of 16 s RNA were deposited into the NCBI Sequence Read Archive (SRA) database (Accession Number: SRR12131890). The raw reads of metagenome were deposited into the NCBI Sequence Read Archive (SRA) database (Accession Number: SRPSRR12132972).

Abbreviations

AD:

Anaerobic digestion

RS:

Rice straw

TS:

Total solids

VS:

Volatile solids

TC:

Total carbon

TN:

Total nitrogen

VFAs:

Volatile fatty acids

TCD:

Thermal conductivity detector

FID:

Flame ionization detector

STAMP:

Statistical Analysis of Metagenomic Profiles

KEGG:

Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes

OTUs:

Operational taxonomic units

References

  1. Li, K., Liu, R., Cui, S., Yu, Q., & Ma, R. (2018). Anaerobic co-digestion of animal manures with corn stover or apple pulp for enhanced biogas production. Renewable Energy, 118, 335–342.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Li, J., Wachemo, A. C., Yu, G., & Li, X. (2019). Enhanced anaerobic digestion performance of corn stalk pretreated with freezing-thawing and ammonia: An experimental and theoretical study. Journal of Cleaner Production, 247, 119112.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Liu, Y., Wachemo, A. C., Yuan, H., & Li, X. (2019). Anaerobic digestion performance and microbial community structure of corn stover in three-stage continuously stirred tank reactors. Bioresource Technology, 287, 121339.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. McKendry, P. (2002). Energy production from biomass (part 1) overview of biomass. Bioresource Technology, 83, 37–46.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Houfani, A. A., Anders, N., Spiess, A. C., Baldrian, P., & Benallaoua, S. (2020). Insights from enzymatic degradation of cellulose and hemicellulose to fermentable sugars-a review. Biomass and Bioenergy, 134, 10581.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Behera, S., Arora, R., Nandhagopal, N., & Kumar, S. (2014). Importance of chemical pretreatment for bioconversion of lignocellulosic biomass. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 36, 91–106.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Jeffrey, G. A., & Saenger, W. (1994). Hydrogen binding in biological structure second printing. Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Xiao, B., Sun, X. F., & Sun, R. (2001). Chemical, structural, and thermal characterizations of alkali-soluble lignins and hemicelluloses, and cellulose from maize stems, rye straw, and rice straw. Polymer Degradation and Stability, 74, 307–319.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Gao, L., Chen, S., & Zhang, D. (2017). Advances in modifying lignin structures for largely enhancing high-lignin biomass saccharification. Process Biochemistry, 57, 175–180.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Li, W., Khalid, H., Zhu, Z., Zhang, R., Liu, G., Chen, C., & Thorin, E. (2018). Methane production through anaerobic digestion: Participation and digestion characteristics of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. Applied Energy, 226, 1219–1228.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Lai, C., Tu, M., Xia, C., Shi, Z., Sun, S., Yong, Q., & Yu, S. (2017). Lignin alkylation enhances enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass. Energy & Fuels, 31(11), 12317–12326.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Hjorth, M., Gränitz, K., Adamsen, A. P. S., & Møller, H. B. (2011). Extrusion as a pretreatment to increase biogas production. Bioresource Technology, 102(8), 4989–4994.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Liu, C. M., Wachemo, A. C., Yuan, H. R., Zou, D. X., Liu, Y. P., Zhang, L., Pang, Y. Z., & Li, X. J. (2018). Evaluation of methane yield using acidogenic effluent of NaOH pretreated corn stover in anaerobic digestion. Renewable Energy, 116, 224–233.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Li, L., Peng, X., Wang, X., & Wu, D. (2018). Anaerobic digestion of food waste: A review focusing on process stability. Bioresource Technology, 248(Pt A), 20–28.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Boe, K., Batstone, D. J., Steyer, J.-P., & Angelidaki, I. (2010). State indicators for monitoring the anaerobic digestion process. Water Research, 44(20), 5973–5980.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Chen, D., Zuo, X., Li, J., Wang, X., & Liu, J. (2020). Carbon migration and metagenomic characteristics during anaerobic digestion of rice straw. Biotechnology for Biofuels, 13, 130.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Cai, Y., Hua, B., Gao, L., Hu, Y., Yuan, X., Cui, Z., Zhu, W., & Wang, X. (2017). Effects of adding trace elements on rice straw anaerobic mono-digestion: Focus on changes in microbial communities using high-throughput sequencing. Bioresource Technology, 239, 454–463.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Azman, S., Khadem, A. F., Lier, J. B. V., Zeeman, G., & Plugge, C. M. (2015). Presence and role of anaerobic hydrolytic microbes in conversion of lignocellulosic biomass for biogas production. Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology, 45(23), 2523–2564.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Meng, L., Xie, L., Kinh, C. T., Suenaga, T., Hori, T., Riya, S., Terada, A., & Hosomi, M. (2018). Influence of feedstock-to-inoculum ratio on performance and microbial community succession during solid-state thermophilic anaerobic co-digestion of pig urine and rice straw. Bioresource Technology, 252, 127–133.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Zhang, W., Li, L., Wang, X., Xing, W., Li, R., Yang, T., & Lv, D. (2020). Role of trace elements in anaerobic digestion of food waste: Process stability, recovery from volatile fatty acid inhibition and microbial community dynamics. Bioresource Technology, 315, 123796.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Xing, L., Yang, S., Yin, Q., Xie, S., Strong, P. J., & Wu, G. (2017). Effects of carbon source on methanogenic activities and pathways incorporating metagenomic analysis of microbial community. Bioresource Technology, 244(Pt 1), 982–988.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Guan, R., Li, X., Wachemo, A. C., Yuan, H., Zuo, X., & Gu, J. (2018). Enhancing anaerobic digestion performance and degradation of lignocellulosic components of rice straw by combined biological and chemical pretreatment. Science of the Total Environment, 637–638, 9–17.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Zuo, X., Yuan, H., Wachemo, A. C., Wang, X., Zhang, L., Li, J., Wen, H., Wang, J., & Li, X. (2019). The relationships among sCOD, VFAs, microbial community, and biogas production during anaerobic digestion of rice straw pretreated with ammonia. Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering, 28(1), 286–292.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Nopharatana, A., Pullammanappallil, P. C., & Clarke, W. P. (2007). Kinetics and dynamic modelling of batch anaerobic digestion of municipal solid waste in a stirred reactor. Waste Management, 27(5), 595–603.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Frommhagen, M., Sforza, S., Westphal, A. H., Visser, J., Hinz, S. W. A., Koetsier, M. J., van Berkel, W. J. H., Gruppen, H., & Kabel, M. A. (2015). Discovery of the combined oxidative cleavage of plant xylan and cellulose by a new fungal polysaccharide monooxygenase. Biotechnology for Biofuels, 8, 101.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  26. Datta, R., Kelkar, A., Baraniya, D., Molaei, A., Moulick, A., Meena, R. S., & Formanek, P. (2017). Enzymatic degradation of lignin in soil: A review. Sustainability, 9(7), 1163.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Feofilova, E. P., & Mysyakina, I. S. (2016). Lignin: Chemical structure, biodegradation, and practical application (a review). Applied Biochemistry and Microbiology, 52(6), 573–581.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Zhao, C., Yan, H., Liu, Y., Huang, Y., Zhang, R., Chen, C., & Liu, G. (2016). Bio-energy conversion performance, biodegradability, and kinetic analysis of different fruit residues during discontinuous anaerobic digestion. Waste Management, 52, 295–301.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Wang, X., Cheng, S., Li, Z., Men, Y., & Wu, J. (2020). Impacts of cellulase and amylase on enzymatic hydrolysis and methane production in the anaerobic digestion of corn straw. Sustainability, 12(13), 5453.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Rajagopal, R., Massé, D. I., & Singh, G. (2013). A critical review on inhibition of anaerobic digestion process by excess ammonia. Bioresource Technology, 143, 632–641.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Lin, J., Zuo, J., Gan, L., Li, P., Liu, F., Wang, K., Chen, L., & Gan, H. (2011). Effects of mixture ratio on anaerobic co-digestion with fruit and vegetable waste and food waste of China. Journal of Environmental Sciences, 23(8), 1403–1408.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Yuan, H., Guan, R., Wachemo, A. C., Zhu, C., Zou, D., Li, Y., Liu, Y., Zuo, X., & Li, X. (2019). Enhancing methane production of excess sludge and dewatered sludge with combined low frequency CaO-ultrasonic pretreatment. Bioresource Technology, 273, 425–430.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. Lee, J., Kim, J. R., Jeong, S., Cho, J., & Kim, J. Y. (2017). Long-term performance of anaerobic digestion for crop residues containing heavy metals and response of microbial communities. Waste Management, 59, 498–507.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  34. Ju, X., Engelhard, M., & Zhang, X. (2013). An advanced understanding of the specific effects of xylan and surface lignin contents on enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass. Bioresource Technology, 132, 137–145.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  35. Chen, S., Liu, G., Zhang, R., Qin, B., & Luo, Y. (2012). Development of the microbial electrolysis desalination and chemical-production cell for desalination as well as acid and alkali productions. Environmental Science and Technology, 46(4), 2467–2472.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  36. Lay, J.-J., Li, Y.-Y., & Noike, T. (1997). Influences of pH and moisture content on themethane production in high-solids sludge digestion. Water Research, 31, 1518–1524.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  37. Capson-Tojo, G., Ruiz, D., Rouez, M., Crest, M., Steyer, J.-P., Bernet, N., Delgenès, J.-P., & Escudié, R. (2017). Accumulation of propionic acid during consecutive batch anaerobic digestion of commercial food waste. Bioresource Technology, 245(Pt A), 724–733.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  38. Pullammanappallil, P. C., Chynoweth, D. P., Lyberatos, G., & Svoronos, S. A. (2001). Stable performance of anaerobic digestion in the presence of a high concentration of propionic acid. Bioresource Technology, 78, 165–169.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  39. Liu, C., Wachemo, A. C., Tong, H., Shi, S., Zhang, L., Yuan, H., & Li, X. (2018). Biogas production and microbial community properties during anaerobic digestion of corn stover at different temperatures. Bioresource Technology, 261, 93–103.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  40. Song, L., Song, Y., Li, D., Liu, R., & Niu, Q. (2019). The auto fluorescence characteristics, specific activity, and microbial community structure in batch tests of mono-chicken manure digestion. Waste Management, 83, 57–67.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  41. Zou, H., Chen, Y., Shi, J., Zhao, T., Yu, Q., Yu, S., Shi, D., Chai, H., Gu, L., He, Q., & Ai, H. (2018). Mesophilic anaerobic co-digestion of residual sludge with different lignocellulosic wastes in the batch digester. Bioresource Technology, 268, 371–381.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  42. Feng, X., Wang, Y., Zubin, R., & Wang, F. (2019). Core metabolic features and hot origin of Bathyarchaeota. Engineering, 5(3), 498–504.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  43. Lazar, C. S., Baker, B. J., Seitz, K., Hyde, A. S., Dick, G. J., Hinrichs, K. U., & Teske, A. P. (2016). Genomic evidence for distinct carbon substrate preferences and ecological niches of Bathyarchaeota in estuarine sediments. Environmental Microbiology, 18(4), 1200–1211.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  44. Cheng, J., Li, H., Zhang, J., Ding, L., Ye, Q., & Lin, R. (2019). Enhanced dark hydrogen fermentation of Enterobacter aerogenes/HoxEFUYH with carbon cloth. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 44(7), 3560–3568.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  45. Merlino, G., Rizzi, A., Schievano, A., Tenca, A., Scaglia, B., Oberti, R., Adani, F., & Daffonchio, D. (2013). Microbial community structure and dynamics in two-stage vs single-stage thermophilic anaerobic digestion of mixed swine slurry and market bio-waste. Water Research, 47(6), 1983–1995.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  46. Cho, H. U., Kim, Y. M., & Park, J. M. (2018). Changes in microbial communities during volatile fatty acid production from cyanobacterial biomass harvested from a cyanobacterial bloom in a river. Chemosphere, 202, 306–311.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  47. Abe, K., Ueki, A., Ohtaki, Y., Kaku, N., Watanabe, K., & Ueki, K. (2012). Anaerocella delicata gen. nov., sp. nov., a strictly anaerobic bacterium in the phylum Bacteroidetes isolated from a methanogenic reactor of cattle farms. Journal of General & Applied Microbiology, 58(6), 405–412.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  48. Buhlmann, C. H., Mickan, B. S., Jenkins, S. N., Tait, S., Kahandawala, T. K. A., & Bahri, P. A. (2019). Ammonia stress on a resilient mesophilic anaerobic inoculum: Methane production, microbial community, and putative metabolic pathways. Bioresource Technology, 275, 70–77.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  49. Smith, K. S., & Ingram-Smith, C. (2007). Methanosaeta, the forgotten methanogen? Trends in Microbiology, 15(4), 150–155.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  50. Chellapandi, P., Bharathi, M., Sangavai, C., & Prathiviraj, R. (2018). Methanobacterium formicicum as a target rumen methanogen for the development of new methane mitigation interventions: A review. Veterinary and Animal Science, 6, 86–94.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  CAS  Google Scholar 

  51. Dridi, B., Fardeau, M. L., Ollivier, B., Raoult, D., & Drancourt, M. (2012). Methanomassiliicoccus luminyensis gen. nov., sp. nov., a methanogenic archaeon isolated from human faeces. International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, 62(Pt 8), 1902–1907.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  52. Li, N., He, J., Yan, H., Chen, S., & Dai, X. (2017). Pathways in bacterial and archaeal communities dictated by ammonium stress in a high solid anaerobic digester with dewatered sludge. Bioresource Technology, 241, 95–102.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  53. Pore, S. D., Engineer, A., Dagar, S. S., & Dhakephalkar, P. K. (2019). Meta-omics based analyses of microbiome involved in biomethanation of rice straw in a thermophilic anaerobic bioreactor under optimized conditions. Bioresource Technology, 279, 25–33.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  54. Conrad, R. (2020). Importance of hydrogenotrophic, aceticlastic and methylotrophic methanogenesis for methane production in terrestrial, aquatic and other anoxic environments: A mini review. Pedosphere, 30(1), 25–39.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  55. Du, M., Liu, X., Wang, D., Yang, Q., Duan, A., Chen, H., Liu, Y., Wang, Q., & Ni, B. J. (2021). Understanding the fate and impact of capsaicin in anaerobic co-digestion of food waste and waste activated sludge. Water Research, 188, 116539.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  56. Feng, K., Wang, Q., Li, H., Du, X., & Zhang, Y. (2021). Microbial mechanism of enhancing methane production from anaerobic digestion of food waste via phase separation and pH control. Journal of Environmental Management, 288, 112460.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Microbial community structure and metagenome analysis were performed using the free online platform of Majorbio Cloud Platform (www.majorbio.com).

Funding

The project was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [21808010] and the National Key R&D Program of China [2018YFE0111000].

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, College of Chemical Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, 15 BeiSanhuan East Road, ChaoYang District, Beijing, 100029, People’s Republic of China

    Jie Liu, Xiaoyu Zuo, Ke Peng, Rui He & Luyao Yang

  2. China Urban Construction Design & Research Institute, No.36, Deshengmenwai Street, Beijing, China

    Rufei Liu

Authors
  1. Jie Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Xiaoyu Zuo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Ke Peng
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Rui He
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Luyao Yang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Rufei Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

Xiaoyu Zuo initiated the project and was responsible for coordinating the entire study and its funding. Ke Peng and Rui He completed most of the experiments. Jie Liu assisted in completing the experiment and analyzing the experimental data and wrote the manuscript. Luyao Yang and Rufei Liu modified the grammar of the article appropriately.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xiaoyu Zuo.

Ethics declarations

Competing Interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Liu, J., Zuo, X., Peng, K. et al. Biogas and Volatile Fatty Acid Production During Anaerobic Digestion of Straw, Cellulose, and Hemicellulose with Analysis of Microbial Communities and Functions. Appl Biochem Biotechnol 194, 762–782 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-021-03675-w

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-021-03675-w

Keywords

Search

Navigation