Effects of Sugar Beet Pulp Pretreatment Methods on Hydrogen Production by Dark Fermentation

Abstract

Methane and hydrogen generated from waste and biomass are renewable resources, which may successfully replace traditional fossil fuels. This paper investigates the enhancement effect of lignocellulosic biomass pretreatment on dark fermentative hydrogen production from sugar beet pulp (SBP). The results showed that sugar beet pulp after pretreatment contained significant amounts of unfermented sugars (mainly glucose, arabinose, galactose, and raffinose), and, therefore, represented an attractive substrate for methane and hydrogen production. The greatest methane yield (495 dm3 CH4/kg VS) was achieved from sugar beet pulp after alkaline pretreatment. High methane production of up to 445 dm3 CH4/kg VS was also obtained using acidic and enzymatic hydrolysis as a preliminary treatment of the pulp. All the pretreatment methods also resulted in the enhancement of hydrogen yield with the highest value of 229 dm3 H2/kg VS achieved using acid hydrolysis compared with 17 dm3 H2/kg VS for raw material subjected to digestion.