ENSILING OF POTATO PEELS WASTE FOR BIOMETHANE PRODUCTION: AN EVALUATION OF KINETIC PARAMETERS
Pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass is a necessary prerequisite for biofuel production. However, many of the pretreatment methods can lead to the formation of products that may adversely affect downstream processing. In this study, ensiling was used as a simple and cheap method of pretreatment to improve the biomethane potential of potato peel waste. Potato peel waste was ensiled for 100 days at ambient temperature in airtight bags. Using leachate collected from kitchen waste as inoculum, the biomethane potential of potato peel waste increased by 20.30 % after ensiling. Two kinetic models were used to fit the experimental biomethane potential of the substrates and kinetic parameters were estimated. The study showed that ensiling resulted in increased biodegradability of potato peel waste. The biomethane potential of the un-ensiled potato peel waste was 216.99 mL/gVS while that of the silage was 261.06 mL/gVS, making ensiling a suitable method for the pretreatment and preservation of potato peel waste for biogas production. The study also showed that the one-step-two-fraction kinetic model fitted the experimental biomethane potential better than the modified Gompertz model and therefore more appropriate to use in describing the anaerobic digestion of potato peel waste.
Authors : Kefas, H.M. and Undiandeye, J.
Category : Open Access Volume (Issue) : 8(1) Date Uploaded : 3rd November 2022