Methane production by anaerobic digestion of biomass. Final report of innovative research program subtask, December 1977--September 1978

It has long been known that methane is produced during the anaerobic digestion of agricultural wastes, but this potential source of fuel has not been greatly exploited in the United States. The chief reason is that anaerobic decomposition of lignocellulosic materials occurs very slowly, resulting in a need for long detention times and large digestion vessels, both of which markedly increase process costs. However, recent work at CSU has shown that pretreatment of manure fibers (an abundant agricultural waste) with saturated steam at 130 to 210/sup 0/C renders this material more susceptible to attack by microbial enzymes. The main objectives of this project were to identify the chemical events occurring during the steam treatment and to correlate these with the rate of methane generating during subsequent anaerobic digestion. The study was expected to lead to an optimal pretreatment strategy.