Hydrolysis and solubilisation of organic material is known to be the rate limiting step during anaerobic digestion. In this study, the effect of pre-hydrolysis was investigated. The substrate had a composition of the following wastes streams: fish and slaughterhouse waste, cleaning waste, doggy meat, doggy sludge, doggy dry food, mink (fur), Norway slurry, SOR2-Industrial waste, and municipal solid waste (MSW) from households in Borås community.Analyses were made on two batches of experiments performed at two different mesophilic temperature conditions; 34 0C and 42 0C and with or without the addition of mesophilic sludge obtained from a waste water treatment plant. One of the substrate maintained the original carbon/nitrogen (C/N) ratio, and for the other substrate the carbon nitrogen ratio was then slightly increased by adding 7.98g of special shredded paper which contains 82% volatile solids (VS). The experiments were run for 7days with samples collected regularly after 0 day, 4 days, 5 days, 6 days and 7 days retention time. Chemical oxygen demand (COD), pH, total nitrogen, and volatile fatty acids (VFAs) as process indicators were analyzed.The results showed that at 42 0C the rate of hydrolysis was faster with a higher COD release and removal. The optimum retention time for hydrolysis was 4 days and any longer time caused some of the carbon to be lost to carbon dioxide. The effect of adding mesophilic sludge had no significant effect. An increased C/N ratio resulted in a balanced system with lower VFAs produced compared with that from the original substrate mixture. / <p>Acknowledgements: The authors are heartily thankful to their supervisor Ilona Sárvári Horváth whose guidance and support from the initial to the final level of this thesis work enabled us to gain a deeper understanding of the project.</p><p>We equally extend our sincere gratitude to the following persons who never ceased in helping until this work was complete.</p><p>Solmaz Aslanzadeh: For sharing her precious time and positive insight in coping with associated challenges of the project.</p><p>Hanson Jonas: Your assistance and patience over our laboratory experiments given the limited resources vis-a-vis students demand is quite reminding and saluted.</p><p>The support team at Sobacken Biogas plant: Your concern and timely assistance beginning from the supply of the substrate and the opportunity granted us to use your laboratory station greatly ensured results validation.</p><p>Program: MSc in Resource Recovery - Sustainable Engineering</p><p>Program: MSc in Resource Recovery - Industrial Biotechnology</p>

Submitted by Johnny Rodrigues (johnnyrodrigues@ufcg.edu.br) on 2018-10-16T17:10:00Z No. of bitstreams: 1 ALBERTO BRANDÃO TORRES NETO - DISSERTAÇÃO PPGEA 2009..pdf: 8942773 bytes, checksum: 5e58ef74c4a8c8c72d4700726c6be397 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-10-16T17:10:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 ALBERTO BRANDÃO TORRES NETO - DISSERTAÇÃO PPGEA 2009..pdf: 8942773 bytes, checksum: 5e58ef74c4a8c8c72d4700726c6be397 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-09 / Desde a primeira crise do petróleo, em 1973, o álcool etílico vem despertando um crescente interesse do Governo Federal do Brasil e dos pesquisadores do mundo, e atualmente dos governos dos países desenvolvidos, como os Estados Unidos, Alemanha, França e países em desenvolvimento, como a índia e a China. Este fato se deve às pressões do esgotamento das fontes não-renováveis de combustíveis fósseis, como também à geopolítica do mundo (maiores reservas de petróleo em países com problemas de conflitos e instabilidade política). Surge, também, a busca por novas fontes de obtenção do álcool, os materiais lignocelulósicos. A palma forrageira foi introduzida no Brasil para dar suporte à criação de um inseto conhecido como cochonilha, este responsável pela produção de um corante de alto valor comercial na época. Com o passar dos anos o uso da palma passou a ser bastante diversificado pois, além de servir como forragem, ela produz frutas e verduras para consumo humano, biomassa para fins energéticos (combustível e biogás) e inúmeros produtos como bebidas, queijo vegetariano, remédios e cosméticos; elas servem, ainda, para abrigar e alimentar diversas espécies selvagens que vivem em ambientes áridos. A palma forrageira vem despertando interesse de muitos pesquisadores por se tratar de uma cultura bastante difundida e apresentar, em sua composição, celulose e hemicelulose, substâncias que podem ser utilizadas para obtenção de açúcares fermentescíveis; ela é, também, uma cultura bastante resistente à seca e produzida o ano inteiro. O objetivo deste trabalho foi estudar o processo de pré-hidrólise ácida da palma para obtenção de um licor pré-hidrolisado rico em pentoses diminuindo, assim, suas concentrações na matéria-prima, sendo esta o cladódio da palma forrageira do tipo gigante. O cladódio da palma foi recepcionado no Laboratório de Engenharia Bioquímica, onde se determinou sua umidade e se obteve a matéria seca. Fez-se a caracterização desta matéria (pH, açúcares redutores totais, sólidos solúveis, cinzas, hemicelulose, celulose, lignina e concentração de pentoses e hexoses). Foram realizados dois planejamentos experimentais 23 da pré-hidrólise para verificar a influência das variáveis temperatura, concentração de ácido e razão matéria seca/ácido sobre as respostas soma de pentoses e percentual de aumento de pentoses e, em seguida, foi realizada uma hidrólise preliminar acompanhada de uma fermentação. Com os resultados do planejamento fatorial experimental 23 verificou-se que apenas o segundo planejamento foi estatisticamente significativo ao nível de 95% de confiança para a média e a variável razão. Operando-se com razão abaixo de 1/10, para quaisquer valores de temperatura e concentração de ácido, obtém-se soma e percentual de aumento de pentoses acima de 8 g/L e 8000%, respectivamente. Durante a fermentação não houve produção de álcool etílico, devido, provavelmente, à formação de inibidores no processo de hidrólise, que se demonstrou através da forte coloração no licor hidrolisado. / Since the first petroleum crisis in 1973, ethylic alcohol has been arousing a growing interest by the Federal Government in Brazil and by researchers worldwide, and nowadays by governments of developed countries, such as the United States, Germany, and France, and by developing countries, such as índia and China. This is due to the pressure caused by the depletion of non-renewable sources of fóssil fuels, as well as to world geopolitics (greater reserves of petroleum in countries with problems of conflicts and politicai instability). The search for new sources for obtaining alcohol, such as lignocelluloses materiais, is also arising. Forage cactus was introduced in Brazil to support the raising of an insect known as cochonilha, which is responsible for the production of a dye that was of high commercial value at that time. Throughout the years, the use of this cactus has become very diversified, because aside from being used as forage, it produces fruit and greens for human consumption, biomass for energy reasons (fuels and biogas) and countless other products, such and beverages, vegetarian cheese, medicines and cosmetics. Furthermore, it is useful to shelter and feed various wild species that live in arid environments. Forage cactus has been arousing interest among many researchers because it is not only a greatly diffused culture and presents cellulose and hemicelluloses in its composition, and these substances can be used for obtaining fermentable sugars, but it is also a culture which is resistant to drought and can be produced ali year long. The purpose of this paper was to study the process of acid pre-hydrolysis of the cactus to obtain a prehydrolyzed liquor, high in pentose, thus diminishing the concentration in this raw material, which is the cladode of the giant forage cactus. The cactus cladode was received at the Biochemistry Engineering Laboratory, where its moisture content was determined and a dry matter was obtained. This matter was characterized (pH, total reducing sugars, soluble solids, ashes, hemicelluloses, cellulose, lignin, and the concentration of pentose and hexoses). Two factorial designs 23 of pre-hydrolysis were performed to verify the influence of the variables of temperature, acid concentration and dry matter/acid ratio over the responses to the sum of pentose and the percentile of pentose increase, and then a preliminary hydrolysis followed by fermentation was performed. With the results to the factorial design 23, it was verified that only the second design was statistically significant to a 95% levei of confidence for the mean and the variable ratio. Operating with the ratio below 1/10, for any value of temperature and acid concentration the sum and percentile increase in pentose is obtained above 8 g/L and 8000%, respectively. During fermentation, there wasn't production of ethylic acid, probably due to the formation of inhibitors in the hydrolysis process that was demonstrated through the strong color of the hydrolyzed liquor.