Title: Enhanced biomethane generation from sweet sorghum bagasse: improvement of bagasse saccharification using response surface methodology

Authors: Lakshmi Machineni; A. Gangagni Rao

Addresses: Bioengineering and Environmental Sciences (BEES) Group, Department of Energy and Environmental Engineering (DEEE), CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT), Tarnaka, Hyderabad – 500007, India ' Bioengineering and Environmental Sciences (BEES) Group, Department of Energy and Environmental Engineering (DEEE), CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT), Tarnaka, Hyderabad – 500007, India

Abstract: Anaerobic digestion (AD) of either untreated or pre-treated sweet sorghum bagasse (SSB) is not yet fully demonstrated and hence rarely published. In the present work, an untapped carbon-rich SSB is subjected to chemical pre-treatment followed by AD for biomethane production. Grinded powder of dried SSB has 35.85% cellulose, 24.96% hemicelluloses, and 22.35% lignin. Impact of catalyst concentration, residence time and pre-treatment temperature on SSB delignification through alkaline and acid pre-treatment are investigated and assessed by variations in the proximal parameters of bagasse. Response surface methodology (RSM) based central composite design (CCD) tool with statistical analysis of variance is applied to optimise SSB delignification and fermentable sugar recovery for higher biomethane production. The maximum methane production from PSSB is ~75% higher and 55% pure in comparison with untreated SSB. These results will provide significant insights on biomethane production from LCB, namely SSB for future industrial scale-ups.

Keywords: lignocellulosic biomass; LCB; sweet sorghum bagasse; SSB; pre-treatment; response surface methodology; RSM; biomethane; biorefinery; quality; central composite design; CCD.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEE.2024.141445

International Journal of Environmental Engineering, 2024 Vol.12 No.4, pp.303 - 329

Received: 15 May 2023
Accepted: 19 Oct 2023
Published online: 13 Sep 2024 *

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