TWO-STAGE ANAEROBIC DIGESTION OF WHEAT STRAW USING IMMOBILIZED MICROBIAL CONSORTIA

Abstract

The serious energy and environmental problems associated with the use of fossil fuels necessitate the search for alternative energy sources. One of the modern approaches is the anaerobic degradation of organic waste from agricultural wastes. The hydrogen and methane thus obtained are sources of environmentally friendly energy, which reduces carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels, as well as gaseous emissions resulting from natural degradation processes in the disposal of waste materials. The described two-stage anaerobic digestion (TPAD) system with an immobilized microbial consortium represents an innovative biotechnological approach that seeks to obtain an increased energy yield and raised degree of processing of waste materials. Some additional raw materials which represent waste materials from other industrial scale processes can be successfully applied and support higher biohydrogen production from wheat straw. The temperature regime suitable for wheat straw biodegradation is 55°C resulting in 2.5 time more biohydrogen production. The VFAs obtained from BR-1 are suitable substrate for the immobilized microbial consortia which is formed for nearly twenty days of bioreactor maintenance.