Co-Ensiling of Wheat Straw as an Alternative Pre-Treatment to Chemical, Hydrothermal and Mechanical Methods for Methane Production

Wheat straw without pre-treatment is only converted to methane to a low degree during anaerobic digestion for fuel production due to its low hydrolysis. Current pre-treatment technologies are challenged by high expenses to energy or chemical agents. We examined the low-tech co-ensiling pre-treatment as an alternative pre-treatment of wheat straw, and compared the results with hydrothermal, chemical and mechanical pre-treatment methods. The effects of co-ensiling duration and the mixing ratio between straw and sugar beet root on the methane yields, surface morphology and chemical composition were examined. It was found that co-ensiling could improve production of methane by 34.7%, while a combined hydrothermal and chemical pre-treatment could increase the production of methane by 25.4%. The study demonstrated that the effect of co-ensiling could overlap with hydrothermal and chemical pre-treatment by having similar effects to increase lignocellulosic hydrolysis and improve methane production.