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Anaerobic digestion of tobacco stalk: biomethane production performance and kinetic analysis

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Abstract

Tobacco stalk, a common agricultural waste derived from the harvest of tobacco, caused serious environmental pollution in China. In this study, the performance of biomethane production and characteristics of four varieties of tobacco stalk were investigated for the first time. The results showed that the highest cumulative methane yield of 130.2 mL/g-VS was obtained from Nicotiana tabacum L., Yunyan114, which had lower lignin content than other varieties of tobacco stalk. Moreover, different kinetic models were used to describe the biomethane production process, and it was found that the modified Gompertz model was more suitable to simulate the anaerobic digestion (AD) of tobacco stalk. The findings of this study not only showed a feasible method for minimizing the pollution issues of tobacco stalk waste but also gave fundamental information for future AD application.

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Abbreviations

AD:

Anaerobic digestion

BD:

Biodegradability

C/N:

Carbon to nitrogen ratio

CMY:

Cumulative methane yield

EMY:

Experimental methane yield

F/I:

Feedstock to inoculum radio

OL:

Organic loading

TA:

Total alkalinity

TAN:

Total ammonia nitrogen

TS:

Total solid

TMY:

Theoretical methane yield

VFAs:

Volatile fatty acids

VS:

Volatile solid

B :

Simulated cumulative methane yield (mL/g-VS)

B 0 :

Simulated maximum cumulative methane yield (mL/g-VS)

C :

Molar gas volume under standard temperature and pressure (22.4 L/mol)

R :

Ideal gas constant (8.314 J/K/mol)

T :

Absolute temperature (K)

V biogas :

Biogas volume (L)

V head :

Headspace volume (L)

e :

2.718

k :

Hydrolysis rate constant (day−1)

n :

Dimensionless shape factor

t :

Digestion time (day)

∆P :

Absolute pressure difference (kPa)

λ :

Lag phase time (day)

μ m :

Maximum methane production rate (mL/g-VS/day)

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Acknowledgements

Students would like to thank the support given by Talent Training and Teaching Reform Project from Beijing Municipal Education Commission, “One Belt, One Road” National Talent Training Project of Beijing, China, Teaching Reform Program for “New Engineering” Research and Practice (xgk2017040117), and Foreign Cooperation Education Teaching Reform Project, Beijing University of Chemical Technology.

Funding

This research was funded by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2017YFD0800801).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Chemical Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, 505A Zonghe Building, 15 North 3rd Ring East Road, Beijing, 100029, China

    Lyu Li, Wanwu Li, Guangqing Liu & Chang Chen

  2. School of International Education, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, China

    Ruolin Wang & Zhenlai Jiang

Authors
  1. Lyu Li
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  2. Ruolin Wang
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  3. Zhenlai Jiang
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  4. Wanwu Li
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  5. Guangqing Liu
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  6. Chang Chen
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Correspondence to Chang Chen.

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Li, L., Wang, R., Jiang, Z. et al. Anaerobic digestion of tobacco stalk: biomethane production performance and kinetic analysis. Environ Sci Pollut Res 26, 14250–14258 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-04677-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-04677-2

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