| Title |
Turning an invasive alien species into a valuable biomass: Anaerobic digestion of Rugulopteryx okamurae after thermal and new developed low-cost mechanical pretreatments |
| ID_Doc |
9865 |
| Authors |
De la Lama-Calvente, D; Fernández-Rodríguez, MJ; Ballesteros, M; Ruiz-Salvador, AR; Raposo, F; García-Gómez, JC; Borja, R |
| Title |
Turning an invasive alien species into a valuable biomass: Anaerobic digestion of Rugulopteryx okamurae after thermal and new developed low-cost mechanical pretreatments |
| Year |
2023 |
| Published |
|
| Abstract |
The invasive alien seaweed Rugulopteryx okamurae (R.o.) has spread quickly through the Mediterranean Sea causing an unprecedented ecological impact. A solution integrated into a circular economy model is needed in order to curb the negative effects of its presence. Anaerobic digestion (AD) is proposed as a feasible process able to transform biomass into renewable energy. Nevertheless, in order to improve the methane yield and surpass the drawbacks associated with AD processes, this research proposes a thermal pretreatment and a new developed method where the macroalgae is mechanically pretreated with zeolite. Chemical and microstructure characterization of the algal biomass after pre -treatments involved scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and Fourier-transform infra-red spectroscopy (FTIR). The highest methane yields of 240 (28) and 250 (20) NLCH4 kg-1 VSadded were obtained with the new mechanical pretreatment and the thermal pretreatment at 120 degrees C for 45 min without zeolite, achieving a 35 % improvement against the non-pretreated algae. A direct relationship between the crystallinity index of the samples and methane production was observed. The experimental data of methane production versus time were found to be in ac-cordance with both first-order kinetic and Transference Function mathematical models. |
| PDF |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.158914
|
