Skip to main content
Log in

Biogas Production from N-Methylmorpholine-N-oxide (NMMO) Pretreated Forest Residues

Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Lignocellulosic biomass represents a great potential for biogas production. However, a suitable pretreatment is needed to improve their digestibility. This study investigates the effects of an organic solvent, N-Methylmorpholine-N-oxide (NMMO) at temperatures of 120 and 90 °C, NMMO concentrations of 75 and 85 % and treatment times of 3 and 15 h on the methane yield. The long-term effects of the treatment were determined by a semicontinuous experiment. The best results were obtained using 75 % NMMO at 120 °C for 15 h, resulting in 141 % increase in the methane production. These conditions led to a decrease by 9 % and an increase by 8 % in the lignin and in the carbohydrate content, respectively. During the continuous digestion experiments, a specific biogas production rate of 92 NmL/gVS/day was achieved while the corresponding rate from the untreated sample was 53 NmL/gVS/day. The operation conditions were set at 4.4 gVS/L/day organic loading rate (OLR) and hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 20 days in both cases. NMMO pretreatment has substantially improved the digestibility of forest residues. The present study shows the possibilities of this pretreatment method; however, an economic and technical assessment of its industrial use needs to be performed in the future.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

Abbreviations

NMMO:

N-Methylmorpholine-N-oxide (NMMO)

OLR:

organic loading rate

HRT:

hydraulic retention time

VFA:

volatile fatty acids

VS:

volatile solids

TS:

total solids

SD:

standard deviation

HPLC:

high performance liquid chromatography

GC:

gas chromatography

CSTR:

continuous stirred tank reactor

WWTP:

wastewater treatment plant

References

  1. Núñez-Regueira, L., Rodrı́guez-Añón, J., Proupı́n, J., & Romero-Garcı́a, A. (2003). Bioresource Technology, 88, 121–130.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Kabir, M. M., del Pilar Castillo, M., Taherzadeh, M. J., & Sárvári Horváth, I. (2013). BioResources, 8, 5409–5423.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Swedish Waste Management. (2008:2) Den svenska biogaspotentialen från inhemska råvaror Swedish Waste Management, Sweden.

  4. Skinner, I., Essen, H., Smokers, R. and Hill, N. (2010) Final report produced under the contract ENV.C.3/SER/2008/0053 between European Commission Directorate-General Environment and AEA Technology.

  5. Ferreira, S., Gil, N., Queiroz, J. A., Duarte, A. P., & Domingues, F. C. (2010). Bioresource Technology, 101, 7797–7803.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Hahn-Hägerdal, B., Galbe, M., Gorwa-Grauslund, M. F., Lidén, G., & Zacchi, G. (2006). Trends in Biotechnology, 24, 549–556.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Hendriks, A. T. W. M., & Zeeman, G. (2009). Bioresource Technology, 100, 10–18.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Lennartsson, P. R., Niklasson, C., & Taherzadeh, M. J. (2011). Bioresource Technology, 102, 4425–4432.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Shafiei, M., Karimi, K., & Taherzadeh, M. J. (2010). Bioresource Technology, 101, 4914–4918.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Teghammar, A., Karimi, K., Sárvári Horváth, I., & Taherzadeh, M. J. (2012). Biomass and Bioenergy, 36, 116–120.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Rosenau, T., Potthast, A., Sixta, H., & Kosma, P. (2001). Progress in Polymer Science, 26, 1763–1837.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Aslanzadeh, S., Taherzadeh, M. J., & Sárvári Horváth, I. (2011). Bioresources, 6, 5193–5205.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Cuissinat, C., & Navard, P. (2006). Macromolecular Symposia, 244, 1–18.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Jeihanipour, A., Karimi, K., & Taherzadeh, M. J. (2010). Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 105, 469–476.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Hansen, T. L., Schmidt, J. E., Angelidaki, I., Marca, E., Jansen, J. C., Mosbæk, H., & Christensen, T. H. (2004). Waste Management (Oxford), 24, 393–400.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Sluiter, A., Hames, B., Ruiz, R., Scarlata, C., Sluiter, J., Templeton, D. and Crocker, D. (2008) Determination of Structural Carbohydrates and Lignin in Biomass. Standard Biomass Analytical Procedures. National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

  17. Teghammar, A., Yngvesson, J., Lundin, M., Taherzadeh, M. J., & Sárvári Horváth, I. (2010). Bioresource Technology, 101, 1206–1212.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Sluiter, A., Hames, B., Ruiz, R., Scarlata, C., Sluiter, J. and Templeton, D. (2005) Determination of Ash in Biomass. Standard Biomass Analytical Procedures. National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

  19. Jonsson, S., & Borén, H. (2002). Journal of Chromatography A, 963, 393–400.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Jeihanipour, A., Aslanzadeh, S., Rajendran, K., Balasubramanian, G., & Taherzadeh, M. J. (2013). Renewable Energy, 52, 128–135.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Schink, B. (1997). Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews, 61, 262–280.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Larsen, J., Østergaard Petersen, M., Thirup, L., Wen Li, H., & Krogh Iversen, F. (2008). Chemical Engineering & Technology, 31, 765–772.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Henriksson, G., del Pilar Castillo, M., Jakubowicz, I., Enocksson, H., Contreras, J. A. and Lundgren, P. (2010) Miljöeffekter av polymerer inom biogasbranschen-Förstudie. Projektnummer WR-33.

  24. Shafiei, M., Karimi, K., & Taherzadeh, M. J. (2011). Bioresource Technology, 102, 7879–7886.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Murphy, J. D., & Power, N. (2009). Applied Energy, 86, 25–36.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Davidsson, Å. (2007) Ph.D., Lunds University, Lund.

  27. Teghammar, A., Castillo, M. D. P., Ascue, J., Niklasson, C., & Sárvári Horváth, I. (2013). Energy and Fuels, 27, 277–284.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Teghammar, A., Forgács, G., Sárvári Horváth, I., & Taherzadeh, M. J. (2014). Applied Energy, 116, 125–133.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Solmaz Aslanzadeh.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Aslanzadeh, S., Berg, A., Taherzadeh, M.J. et al. Biogas Production from N-Methylmorpholine-N-oxide (NMMO) Pretreated Forest Residues. Appl Biochem Biotechnol 172, 2998–3008 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-014-0747-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-014-0747-z

Keywords

Navigation