The significant increase in the sewage sludge production in treatment plants makes anaerobic digestion more important as a stabilization process. However hydrolysis is the rate-limiting step of anaerobic digestion because of the semirigid structure of the microbial cells. Pretreatment of waste activated sludge (WAS) leads to disruption of cell walls and release of extracellular and intracellular materials. Therefore biodegradability of sludge will be improved in terms of more biogas production and sludge minimization. Among the pretreatment methods, alkaline, thermal and thermochemical pretreatments are effectual ones. Considering the effect of thermal pretreatment, microwave technology in which the sample reaches to elevated temperatures very rapidly is a very new pretreatment method. However no previous research has been conducted to test the effectiveness of microwave (MW) irradiation combined with alkaline pretreatment. Since both of these techniques seem to be highly effective, their combination can act synergistically and even more efficient method can be obtained. Therefore the main objective of this study was to investigate the effect of combination of a chemical method (alkaline pretreatment) and a physical method (microwave irradiation) in improving anaerobic digestion of WAS. In the first part of the study, alkaline and MW pretreatment methods were examined separately, then their combinations were investigated for the first time in the literature in terms of COD solubilization, turbidity and CST. Highest SCOD was achieved with the combined method of MW+pH-12. In the second part, based on the results obtained in the first part, alkaline pretreatments of pH-10 and pH-12 / MW pretreatment alone and combined pretreatments of MW+pH-10 and MW+pH-12 pretreated WAS samples were anaerobically digested in small scale batch anaerobic reactors. In correlation with the highest protein and carbohydrate releases with MW+pH-12, highest total gas and methane productions were achieved with MW+pH-12 pretreatment reactor with 16.3% and 18.9% improvements over control reactor, respectively. Finally the performance of MW+pH-12 pretreatment was examined with 2L anaerobic semi-continuous reactors. 43.5% and 53.2% improvements were obtained in daily total gas and methane productions. TS, VS and TCOD reductions were improved by 24.9%, 35.4% and 30.3%, respectively. Pretreated digested sludge had 22% improved dewaterability than non-pretreated digested sludge. Higher SCOD and NH3-N concentrations were measured in the effluent of pretreated digested sludge / however, PO4-P concentration did not vary so much. Heavy metal concentrations of all digested sludges met Soil Pollution Control Regulation Standards. Finally a simple cost calculation was done for a MW+pH-12 pretreatment of WAS for a fictitious WWTP. Results showed that, WWTP can move into profit in 5.5 years.

The growing demand for energy in the world, the implications of climate change, the increasing damages to our environment and the diminishing fossil fuel reserves have created the appropriate conditions for renewable energy development. Biofuels such as bioethanol can be produced by breaking down the lignocellulosic structure of plant materials to release fermentable sugars. Sweet sorghum bagasse has been shown to be an important lignocellulosic crop residue and is potentially a significant feedstock for bioethanol production. The aim of this study was to investigate suitable microwave assisted pretreatment conditions of sweet sorghum bagasse for bioethanol production. A chemical pretreatment process of sweet sorghum bagasse, using different concentrations (1 to 7 wt%) of sulphuric acid (H2SO4) and calcium hydroxide (Ca (OH)2) was applied to break up the lignocellulosic matrix of sweet sorghum bagasse. The pretreated broth, which contained pentose and hexose sugars, was fermented using a combination of Zymomonas mobilis ATCC31821 and Saccharomyces cerevisiae to produce bioethanol at pH 4.8 and 32oC for 24 hours. The highest reducing sugar yield of 0.82 g/g substrate was obtained with microwave irradiation at 180 W for 20 minutes in a 5 wt% sulphuric acid solution. The highest ethanol yield obtained was 0.5 g/g from 5 wt% H2SO4 pretreated bagasse at 180 W using a 10:5% v/v of Saccharomyces cerevisiae to Zymomonas mobilis ratio, whereas for 3 wt% Ca (OH)2 microwave pretreatment, a sugar yield of 0.27 g/g substrate was obtained at 300 W for 10 minutes. Thereafter, an ethanol yield of 0.13 g/g substrate was obtained after 24 hours of fermentation when using a 10:5% v/v of Saccharomyces cerevisiae to Zymomonas mobilis ratio. The effect of microwave pretreatment on the bagasse was evaluated using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis. The reducing sugars formed were quantified using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). The results showed that microwave pretreatment using 5 wt% H2SO4 is a very effective pretreatment that can be used to obtain sugars from sweet sorghum bagasse. The analytic results also showed physical and functional group changes after microwave pretreatment. This confirms that microwave irradiation is very effective in terms of breaking up the lignocellulose structure and improving fermentable sugar yield for fermentation. Bioethanol yields obtained from microwave pretreatment using different solvents also show that Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Zymomonas mobilis ATCC31821 is a good combination for producing ethanol from sweet sorghum bagasse. Sweet sorghum bagasse is clearly a very effective and cheap biomass that can be used to produce bioethanol, since very high yields of fermentable sugars were obtained from the feedstock. / Thesis (MSc (Engineering Sciences in Chemical Engineering))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

The growing demand for energy in the world, the implications of climate change, the increasing damages to our environment and the diminishing fossil fuel reserves have created the appropriate conditions for renewable energy development. Biofuels such as bioethanol can be produced by breaking down the lignocellulosic structure of plant materials to release fermentable sugars. Sweet sorghum bagasse has been shown to be an important lignocellulosic crop residue and is potentially a significant feedstock for bioethanol production. The aim of this study was to investigate suitable microwave assisted pretreatment conditions of sweet sorghum bagasse for bioethanol production. A chemical pretreatment process of sweet sorghum bagasse, using different concentrations (1 to 7 wt%) of sulphuric acid (H2SO4) and calcium hydroxide (Ca (OH)2) was applied to break up the lignocellulosic matrix of sweet sorghum bagasse. The pretreated broth, which contained pentose and hexose sugars, was fermented using a combination of Zymomonas mobilis ATCC31821 and Saccharomyces cerevisiae to produce bioethanol at pH 4.8 and 32oC for 24 hours. The highest reducing sugar yield of 0.82 g/g substrate was obtained with microwave irradiation at 180 W for 20 minutes in a 5 wt% sulphuric acid solution. The highest ethanol yield obtained was 0.5 g/g from 5 wt% H2SO4 pretreated bagasse at 180 W using a 10:5% v/v of Saccharomyces cerevisiae to Zymomonas mobilis ratio, whereas for 3 wt% Ca (OH)2 microwave pretreatment, a sugar yield of 0.27 g/g substrate was obtained at 300 W for 10 minutes. Thereafter, an ethanol yield of 0.13 g/g substrate was obtained after 24 hours of fermentation when using a 10:5% v/v of Saccharomyces cerevisiae to Zymomonas mobilis ratio. The effect of microwave pretreatment on the bagasse was evaluated using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis. The reducing sugars formed were quantified using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). The results showed that microwave pretreatment using 5 wt% H2SO4 is a very effective pretreatment that can be used to obtain sugars from sweet sorghum bagasse. The analytic results also showed physical and functional group changes after microwave pretreatment. This confirms that microwave irradiation is very effective in terms of breaking up the lignocellulose structure and improving fermentable sugar yield for fermentation. Bioethanol yields obtained from microwave pretreatment using different solvents also show that Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Zymomonas mobilis ATCC31821 is a good combination for producing ethanol from sweet sorghum bagasse. Sweet sorghum bagasse is clearly a very effective and cheap biomass that can be used to produce bioethanol, since very high yields of fermentable sugars were obtained from the feedstock. / Thesis (MSc (Engineering Sciences in Chemical Engineering))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

Biofuels are a sought-after alternative for fossil fuels in today’s society. More specifically, cellulose-based biofuel is an avenue of research intending to limit waste and provide new renewable energy. Cellulose is a rigid polymer of glucose monomers that is found abundantly across different agriculture crops. However, its stability is a barrier to energy production from this source. Pretreatment followed by hydrolysis of cellulosic materials serves a potential to produce glucose to be used in biofuels in larger quantities compared to other methods. This project studied the effect microwave pretreatment and oxygenation have on hydrolysis of cellulose in Arundo Donax. Arundo Donax ground samples are used in solution with acetic acid buffer (pH= 5.0) along with cellulase and maintained at 50°C. The solution’s concentration, in parts per million (ppm), of glucose after hydrolysis was measured over 96 hours using the dinitro salicylic acid method. The Michaelis-Menten constant for cellulase using Arundo Donax and Microcrystalline cellulose before pretreatment were found to be 29.965 g/L and 6.684 g/L, respectively. The concentration of glucose found in Arundo Donax reached a maximum of 310 ppm after 72 hours. In addition, oxygenation, and deoxygenation of buffer and Arundo solution as pretreatment did not yield significantly higher concentrations than Arundo without oxygen manipulation averaging a glucose production of 214.5 ppm with deoxygenation and 209.2 ppm with oxygenation. Microwave pretreatment of Arundo Donax followed by hydrolysis resulted in 29.2 ppm glucose.

AgÃncia Nacional do PetrÃleo / Neste trabalho, estudaram-se aspectos do prÃ-tratamento alcalino em microondas e hidrÃlise enzimÃtica da fibra do caju para produÃÃo de etanol. A primeira etapa do trabalho foi a caracterizaÃÃo da matÃria-prima, bagaÃo de caju, obtendo-se teores de 19,21%  0,35 de celulose, 12,05%  0,37 de hemicelulose e 38,11%  0,08 de lignina. O prÃ-tratamento do bagaÃo de caju, anteriormente imerso em soluÃÃo de hidrÃxido de sÃdio atà homogeneizaÃÃo, foi conduzido em aparelho de microondas domÃstico. Como nÃo foi possÃvel a extraÃÃo do hidrolisado por filtraÃÃo apÃs o prÃ-tratamento, uma alÃquota obtida da primeira lavagem para ajuste do pH foi injetada no HPLC, nÃo se identificando concentraÃÃo apreciÃvel de aÃÃcares. Diante disso, a anÃlise de aÃÃcares foi realizada por HPLC apÃs a hidrÃlise enzimÃtica do material prÃ-tratado. As condiÃÃes de hidrÃlise enzimÃtica foram fixadas em 2% (m/v) de concentraÃÃo de sÃlidos, atividade enzimÃtica de 15 FPU/g de fibra prÃ-tratada em microondas (CAB-M), pH 5 a 45ÂC e 150 rpm. Avaliou-se a influÃncia da concentraÃÃo do Ãlcali na geraÃÃo de glicose, apÃs a etapa de hidrÃlise enzimÃtica, acompanhando-se tambÃm os perfis de celobiose e xilose. Os maiores rendimentos de glicose, 76,4 e 72,9 mg.gCAB-M-1, foram obtidas em ambas concentraÃÃes de NaOH estudadas, 0,2 e 1,0 M, respectivamente. Neste caso, a digestibilidade de celulose alcanÃada foi de 33,89%  1,06 e 29,75%  3,10, respectivamente. As maiores concentraÃÃes de celobiose foram obtidas na maior concentraÃÃo de NaOH estudada (1,0 M). Em relaÃÃo aos nÃveis de celulose, hemicelulose e lignina, a concentraÃÃo de 1,0 M apresentou maior destaque pelo acrÃscimo na porcentagem de celulose (22,07%  1,03), e hemicelulose (14,36%  0,44) e reduÃÃo da porcentagem de lignina para 32,38%  1,86. Estudou-se tambÃm, mantendo-se a concentraÃÃo de NaOH em 1,0 M, a influÃncia da potÃncia das microondas (600 e 900 W) e do tempo de prÃ-tratamento (15 e 30 minutos). Nestes ensaios, observou-se que o aumento no valor destas variÃveis nÃo influenciou nas concentraÃÃes de glicose resultantes. Em seguida, realizaram-se ensaios visando o aumento nos teores de aÃÃcares com vistas à fermentaÃÃo do hidrolisado. As variÃveis estudadas foram a concentraÃÃo de sÃlidos (2 e 16% m/v) e atividade enzimÃtica (15 e 30 FPU.g-1CAB-M). Em relaÃÃo à concentraÃÃo de sÃlidos, observou-se um aumento na concentraÃÃo final de glicose, de 1,5 g.L-1 para 8,8 g.L-1, quando se aumentou o teor de 2 para 16% (m/v). Mantendo-se o teor de sÃlidos em 16% (m/v), avaliou-se o efeito do aumento na atividade enzimÃtica, obtendo-se uma concentraÃÃo de glicose 1,8 vezes maior, ou aproximadamente 15 g.L-1, quando se utilizaram 30 FPU/gCAB-M-1. ApÃs a hidrÃlise enzimÃtica, realizou-se filtraÃÃo do hidrolisado, ajuste do pH para 4,5-5,0 e esterilizaÃÃo para posterior etapa de fermentaÃÃo. A fermentaÃÃo do hidrolisado por Saccharomyces cerevisiae resultou, apÃs 4 horas de fermentaÃÃo, em concentraÃÃo de etanol e produtividade de 5,6 g.L-1 e 1,41 g.L.-1h-1 , respectivamente. Os resultados de eficiÃncia e rendimento foram de 93,44% e 0,48 gEtanol.gGlicose-1, respectivamente. Os resultados obtidos neste trabalho indicam que o bagaÃo de caju à matÃria-prima interessante para produÃÃo de etanol, porÃm as variÃveis do prÃ-tratamento por microondas precisam ainda ser melhor estudadas visando o aumento da concentraÃÃo de glicose no hidrolisado obtido apÃs hidrÃlise enzimÃtica. / In this work, some aspects of microwave alkali (NaOH) pretreatment of CAB (cashew apple bagasse) and its enzymatic hydrolysis were studied to ethanol production. CAB was previously submerged in alkali solution, after that, it was treated in a domestic microwave oven. First, biomass composition of CAB was determined, and the percentage of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin was, 19.21%  0.35, 12.05%  0.37 and 38.11%  0.08, respectively. After the pretreatment, a sample of the liquid fraction, after the first wash, was collected and analyzed by HPLC. However, no glucose, or any other sugar, was detected. Therefore, the sugars were accomplished after enzymatic hydrolysis of the pretreated material (CAB-M). The conditions of enzymatic hydrolysis were: 2% (m/v) of solid concentration, enzymatic activity of 15 FPU/gCAB-M-1, pH 5, 45ÂC and 150 rpm. The influence of alkali concentration on glucose production and the cellobiose and xylose profiles was evaluated. Results showed that, after enzymatic hydrolysis, alkali concentration exerted influence on glucose formation, and the best result was achieved in both concentrations studied (0.2 e 1.0 M), 76.4 and 72.9 mg.gCAB-M-1, respectively. In this case, the digestibilities of cellulose were 33.89%  1.06 and 29.75%  3.10, respectively. The highest cellobiose concentration was achieved when 1.0 M was used, and this condition resulted in the following biomass composition: 22.07%  1.03 of cellulose, 14.36%  0.44 of hemicellulose and 32.38%  1.86 of lignin. On the other hand, pretreatment time (15-30 minutes) and microwave power (600-900 W) exerted no significant effect on hydrolysis. During enzymatic hydrolysis, improvement on solid percentage (16% w/v) resulted in an increase of glucose concentration from 1.5 g.L-1 to 8.8 g.L-1. Increasing on enzyme loading (30 FPU.g-1CAB-M) at 16% w/v, increased glucose concentration to 15 g.L-1. After enzymatic hydrolysis, the liquid fraction was separated by filtration. The pH was adjusted to 4.5-5.0 and the liquid was sterilized for fermentation. The fermentation of the hydrolyzate by Saccharomyces cerevesiae resulted in ethanol concentration and productivity of 5.6 g.L-1 and 1.41 g.L-1.h-1, respectively. The results obtained of efficiency and ethanol yield were 93.44% and 0.48 g/g glucose, respectively. The results obtained in this work indicate that cashew apple bagasse is an interesting raw material for ethanol production; however some aspects of microwave alkali pretreatment have to be further investigated to increase glucose concentration after enzymatic hydrolysis.