Acta Chimica Slovaca (ACS) publishes papers on fundamental and applied aspects of chemistry, biochemistry, chemical technology, chemical engineering and process control, biotechnology and food technology. Welcome are also topics which include chemical aspects of materials, physical chemistry and chemical physics, analytical chemistry, macromolecular chemistry and biomedical engineering.

Pre-treatment of lignocellulosic materials by enzymatic mixture to enhance biogas production

Barbora Jankovičová *, Miroslav Hutňan, Marianna Czӧlderová, Jana Barbušová

Slovak University of Technology, Faculty of Chemical and Food Technology, Department of Environmental Engineering, Radlinského 9, 812 37 Bratislava, Slovakia

E-mail: * barbora.jankovicova@stuba.sk

Abstract: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of an enzymatic mixture to increase biogas production from lignocellulosic materials as rapeseed straw, maize waste and wheat straw. For efficient application of the enzymatic mixture, the conditions of its use were optimized for 50 °C, pH 7 and an enzyme dose of 0.25 % w/v. The biogas potential test confirmed the positive effect of the enzymatic mixture on anaerobic digestion of already thermal and alkalic pre-treated lignocellulosic materials, as there were significantly increases in biogas production after addition of enzymatic mixture for all monitored substrates. The addition of the enzymatic mixture to the most used substrate at biogas plants - maize silage, had also the positive effect on biogas production during the biogas potential test. This fact was not proven during long-term operations of the reactors, as the values of the total cumulative biogas productions for the whole monitored period from reactors for anaerobic digestion of maize silage with and without addition of enzymatic mixture did not differ significantly.

Keywords: anaerobic digestion, biomass, long-term operation, maize silage, methane

Acta Chimica Slovaca, Vol. 15, No. 1, 2022, pp. 36—43, DOI: 10.2478/acs-2022-0005