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Improving agricultural straw preparation logistics stream in bio-methane production: experimental studies and application analysis

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Abstract

Long-term production in commercial straw biogas plants has been rare in China due to inefficiencies in the logistics stream. Biomass densification could be a potential solution to this issue. Therefore, we conducted a study to evaluate whether biomass densification is a more efficient and sustainable option. We performed methane production experiments to investigate fermentation characteristics of briquettes (with a new pretreatment, model II) and rubs (with a common pretreatment, model I). A 3000-m3 biogas plant was used to conduct a comparative analysis with solar eMergy joules. Results showed that the methane yield of briquettes of corn stover was 66.74% higher than that of rubs, and the briquettes had better digestion performance in terms of CH4 content, VFA, and alcohol. The two models required almost the same eMergy investment input, while model II obtained a greater quantity of net eMergy (16.5% higher) in comparison with model I. The net eMergy yield ratio (EYR) (biogas only) of model I and model II was 0.99 and 1.67, respectively, showing less market competitiveness for commercial operations with model I. Meanwhile, the logistic costs of model II could be reduced to approximately US $34,514 annually.

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the National Key Technology Support Program (2015BAD21B03) and the Sichuan Province Science and Technology Support Project (15ZC1450) and the Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Program (ASTIP) of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

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Author notes

  1. Luo Tao and Pan Junting contributed equally to this work and should be considered co-first authors.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biogas Institute of Ministry of Agriculture (BIOMA), Chengdu, 610041, People’s Republic of China

    Luo Tao, Huang Hailong, Long Yan, Xiong Xia, Huang Ruyi & Mei Zili

  2. Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100081, People’s Republic of China

    Pan Junting

  3. College Architecture and Urban Rural Planning, Sichuan Agriculture University, Chengdu, 610065, People’s Republic of China

    Meng Xi

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  1. Luo Tao
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  2. Pan Junting
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  3. Meng Xi
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  4. Huang Hailong
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  5. Long Yan
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Correspondence to Luo Tao.

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Tao, L., Junting, P., Xi, M. et al. Improving agricultural straw preparation logistics stream in bio-methane production: experimental studies and application analysis. 3 Biotech 7, 283 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13205-017-0914-3

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