Department of Chemical Engineering, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada; McMaster Manufacturing Research Institute (MMRI), McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Department of Biology, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada.
Bioresour Technol. 2024 Feb;393:130000. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2023.130000. Epub 2023 Nov 11.
Forestry lignocellulosic waste is an important, largely untapped source of biomass for producing clean energy. In this study, a high-solids twin-screw extrusion approach is developed as a novel pretreatment method to effectively increase the biogas production rate to better fit commercial requirements. Multiple screw designs are progressively introduced with increasingly intensified mechanical shear. The experiments also looked at the impact of feed solids content and several cost-effective processing aids along with these screw designs. Various characterization methods were used to relate the physical state of the biomass based on its specific surface area and volatile fraction, to the rate of biomethane generation possible from a 14- and 31-day biomethane potential test. An increase in biomethane production over this period by up to 190% was possible with the optimal screw design compared to a benchmark sample. This is a promising finding for the industrialization of biomethane production from forestry lignocellulosic biomass.
林业木质纤维素废物是一种重要的、尚未充分开发的生物质能来源，可用于生产清洁能源。本研究采用高固含量双螺杆挤压技术作为一种新型预处理方法，可有效提高沼气产率，更好地满足商业需求。研究中逐步引入了多种螺杆设计，以增强机械剪切效果。实验还考察了进料固含量以及几种具有成本效益的加工助剂对不同螺杆设计的影响。利用多种特性分析方法，根据生物质的比表面积和挥发分的变化，研究了其物理状态与 14 天和 31 天生物甲烷潜能测试中可能产生的生物甲烷生成速率之间的关系。与基准样品相比，采用最佳螺杆设计可使沼气产量在这一期间提高 190%。这一发现为林业木质纤维素生物质生产生物甲烷的工业化提供了有希望的前景。
