Jaron Hansen
Brigham Young University, USA
Title: Microbial pretreatment of biomass for renewable energy production
Biography
Biography: Jaron Hansen
Abstract
Without pretreatment, anaerobic digestion of lignocellulosic biomass typically converts only one-third of the carbon into biogas which is typically only 60% methane. Physical and chemical pretreatments to increase biogas production from biomass have proven to be uneconomical. The anaerobic thermophile, Caldicellulosiruptor bescii, has been shown to be capable of solubilizing up to 90% of lignocellulose, thus making the carbon accessible for anaerobic digestion. Preliminary experiments show C. bescii is capable of solubilizing a wide range of lignocellulosic materials. Anaerobic digestion readily and rapidly converts the soluble products into biogas with 70-80% methane. Isothermal biomicrocalorimetry measurements have provided a thermodynamic understanding of the process. We have applied the pretreatment-anaerobic digestion process to giant king grass and found the biogas yield significantly improved. Biomass Energy Solutions Technology, BEST, is currently collecting data on the pretreatment process with C. bescii and engineering system prototypes to prove feasibility for scale-up to megawatt facilities.
