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Conversion of rubber wood waste to methane by ethanol organosolv pretreatment

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Abstract

The restricted bioavailability of structurally complex carbohydrates for digestion has hitherto resulted in a low methane potential from rubber wood waste (RW). The effects of hydrothermal (HT) and ethanol organosolv (OS) pretreatments on the methane produced by anaerobic digestion of RW were investigated in the study reported. HT with temperatures above 190 °C significantly enhanced the anaerobic digestibility of RW mainly due to the degradation of hemicellulose. On the other hand, OS with 75% ethanol provided a potential methane gas yield of 165.1 L CH4/kg-VS, which was higher than that for HT at 210 and 230 °C by 39 and 7%, respectively. This was due to intensive delignification during OS pretreatment which led to a reduction in the non-productive adsorption of cellulolytic enzymes by lignin. A first-order kinetic model showed that OS had a higher hydrolysis rate (k = 0.073 ± 0.003 day−1) resulting in a higher methane yield when lower pretreatment temperatures were applied. The anaerobic degradation of the pretreated RW in this study was a result of simultaneous CH4 production through the symbiosis of anaerobic bacteria and methanogens using a combination of the aceticlastic and hydrogenothrophic bioconversion pathways. The recovery and use of the phenolic compounds remaining in the process water would be a way of adding value to this process and the feasibility of producing methane from RW should be further investigated.

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Acknowledgments

This research was financially supported by the National Rubber Innovation Research Institute, Prince of Songkla University contract no. ENG590476S as well as by the Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Energy Systems and the Graduate School of Prince of Songkla University, Thailand. The authors would like to thank Panel Plus Co. Ltd. for rubber wood waste and Chalong Latex Industry Co., Ltd. Songkhla, Thailand, for the anaerobic inoculum. The authors would also like to recognize the support of the Energy Technology Research Center and Environmental Laboratory, Faculty of Environmental Management, Prince of Songkla University as well as the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Faculty of Science, Prince of Songkla University for statistical analysis. We also acknowledge the Publication Clinic, Research and Development Office, PSU, for help in manuscript proofreading.

Funding

(1) National Rubber Innovation Research Institute, Prince of Songkla University contract no. ENG590476S, (2) The Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Energy Systems, and (3) The Graduate School of Prince of Songkla University, Thailand.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Environmental Management, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai Campus, Hat Yai, Songkhla, 90110, Thailand

    Tanate Tongbuekeaw

  2. Research Unit in Bioconversion/Bioseparation for Value-Added Chemical Production, Institute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, Chulalongkorn University, 254 Phayathai Road, Pathumwan, Bangkok, Thailand

    Ruengwit Sawangkeaw

  3. Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai campus, Hat Yai, Songkhla, 90110, Thailand

    Sumate Chaiprapat

  4. Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Energy Systems, Energy Systems Research Institute, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai campus, Hat Yai, Songkhla, 90110, Thailand

    Sumate Chaiprapat & Boonya Charnnok

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  1. Tanate Tongbuekeaw
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Contributions

Tanate Tongbuekeaw (Carried out the experiment, acquisition of data, analysis and interpretation of data and drafting of manuscript).

Ruengwit Sawangkeaw (Carried out the experiment and acquisition of data).

Sumate Chaiprapat (Contributed to the design and implementation of the research).

Boonya Charnnokd (Directed the project, study conception and design, analysis and interpretation of data, the drafting of the manuscript; contributed to the final version of the manuscript).

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Correspondence to Boonya Charnnok.

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Tongbuekeaw, T., Sawangkeaw, R., Chaiprapat, S. et al. Conversion of rubber wood waste to methane by ethanol organosolv pretreatment. Biomass Conv. Bioref. 11, 999–1011 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-020-00710-4

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