Methane Production from Napier Grass by Co-digestion with Cow Dung

  • Suriya Sawanon
  • Piyanee Sangsri
  • Suchat Leungprasert
  • Nusara Sinbuathong
Chapter
First Online:
Part of the Lecture Notes in Energy book series (LNEN, volume 33)

Abstract

Methane could substitute for fossil-fuel-derived energy and reduce environmental impacts including global warming. Grass can be transformed into energy by anaerobic digestion. The objective of this study was to investigate the co-digestion of napier grass with cow dung. Digestion of napier grass at a cutting interval of 60 days was investigated in single-stage, semi-continuous anaerobic reactors. Four reactors were operated at 30 °C with 5-day feeding. The first two reactors were fed with a slurry of napier grass alone at 10 % (napier grass:water = 10:90) and 20 % (napier grass:water = 20:80) by fresh weight. The other two reactors were fed with a mixture of napier grass and cow dung at separate concentrations of 10 % (napier grass:cow dung:water = 5:5:90) and 20 % (napier grass:cow dung:water = 10:10:80), respectively. Mixed ruminal microorganisms of approximately 8.5 g mixed liquor volatile suspended solids per litre were used as the inoculum. Each reactor working volume was 5 L and the feeding rate was 625 ml per 5 days resulting in a hydraulic retention time of 40 days. The pH was initially adjusted to be neutral in all reactors and the reactors functioned without any further pH control. The results showed that co-digestion of the mixture of napier grass and cow dung gave a higher yield than that of napier grass alone. The highest methane yield was obtained from the reactor that contained the 20 % mixture of napier grass and cow dung (napier grass: cow dung:water = 10:10:80) with 143 L at STP per kg chemical oxygen demand (COD) added and 169 L at STP per kg total volatile solids (TVS) added. The pH of the reactor was just over 7.

Keywords

Anaerobic digestion Bioenergy Biogas Co-digestion Methane Napier grass 

Nomenclature

COD

Chemical oxygen demand (g L−1)

DW

Dry weight

GC

Gas chromatograph

HRT

Hydraulic retention time (days)

MLVSS

Mixed liquor volatile suspended solids (g L−1)

OLR

Organic loading rate (kg COD m−3day−1)

STP

Standard temperature and pressure

TCD

Thermal conductivity detector

TKN

Total Kjeldahl nitrogen

TS

Total solids (g L−1)

TVS

Total volatile solids (g L−1)

Chemical Compounds

Ca

Calcium

CO2

Carbon dioxide

CH4

Methane

Cu

Copper

Fe

Iron

H2

Hydrogen

K

Potassium

N

Nitrogen

P

Phosphorus

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Notes

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the Kasetsart University Research and Development Institute (KURDI), Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand.

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Copyright information

© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2017

Authors and Affiliations

  • Suriya Sawanon
    • 1
  • Piyanee Sangsri
    • 2
  • Suchat Leungprasert
    • 2
  • Nusara Sinbuathong
    • 3
  1. 1.Faculty of Agriculture at Kamphaeng Saen, Department of Animal ScienceKasetsart UniversityBangkokThailand
  2. 2.Faculty of Engineering, Department of Environmental EngineeringKasetsart UniversityBangkokThailand
  3. 3.Kasetsart University Research and Development Institute (KURDI), Scientific Equipment and Research DivisionKasetsart UniversityBangkokThailand

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