1 AIT Asian Institute of Technology

Anaerobic digestion of press-mud from the sugar industry

AuthorWattanapong Sangchun
Call NumberAIT Thesis no.EV-17-31
Subject(s)Sewage--Purification--Anaerobic treatment

NoteA thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Environmental Engineering and Management
PublisherAsian Institute of Technology
Series StatementThesis ; no. EV-17-31
AbstractToday people primarily use fossil fuels to heat and power our homes and fuel our cars. It is convenient to use coal, oil, and natural gas for meeting our energy needs, but there is a limited supply of these fuels on the Earth. People are using them much more rapidly than they are being created. Eventually, they will run out. Today there is a burning need of an alternative for fossil fuels because the fossil fuels are getting extinct. Hence it is necessary to find out alternative source of energy. This topic will make us aware that press mud which is a waste of sugarcane industries can be used to produce biogas. In order to produce biogas from press mud, press mud is allowed to ferment anaerobically in a digester. However, press mud contains insoluble organic matter with high fiber (lignocellulose) content, its biodegradability is expected to enhance as a result of applying different pretreatments. It has been shown that pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass can accelerate the hydrolysis process and improves the biogas production. Therefor, LDD1 as product was applied for pretreatment. An experiment was conducted to examine the effect of organic loading rate (OLR) on the performance and stability of single stage semi continuous stir tank reactor (CSTR) treating with two different reactors. Reactor 1 was fed unpretreated of press-mud and reactor 2 was fed pretreated of press-mud. Operating parameters were monitored to evaluate the biogas productivity and COD removal at various organic loading rates (2.0, 4.0 and 6.0 Kg VS/m³.d). An experiment was conducted in three phases: substrates characterization, pretreatment of press-mud and anaerobic digestion. The results from pretreatment of press-mud by using LDD1 at concentration 0.01 g is the best condition that can lead to high percentage of COD solubilisation that can cause increased biogas production Therefore, using LDD1 with press-mud showed stable performance with high methane yield and with high COD removal around 91.4% during OLR4.0 Kg VS/m³.d. Although the use of LDD1 for pretreatment was beneficial for the reactor.
Year2017
TypeThesis
SchoolSchool of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD)
DepartmentDepartment of Energy and Climate Change (Former title: Department of Energy, Environment, and Climate Change (DEECC))
Academic Program/FoSEnvironmental Engineering (EV)
Chairperson(s)Annachhatre, Ajit P.;
Examination Committee(s)Nguyen, Thi Kim Oanh;Loc, Thai Nguyen;
Scholarship Donor(s)Royal Thai Government;Asian Institute of Technology Fellowship;
DegreeThesis (M.Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2017


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