Augmenting Biogas Production from Fine Dhaka Grass through

Chemical Pretreatment
Introduction
Background Information
Greenhouse gas emissions are increasing due to excessive anthropogenic activities causing
severe climate change. The major source of emissions is burning of fossil fuels. Searing of fossil
fuels release carbon dioxide (CO2) in open environment that is a basic contributor in greenhouse
gases. These emissions can be reduced and controlled by using bioenergy sources like biogas and
biofuel etc. in place of fossil fuels (Wihersaari 2005).
Human activities like searing of fossil fuels, burning bush and use of various chemicals
agriculture have been increasing the emissions of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and
making it harmful. This increase in atmospheric greenhouse gases concentration has led toward
climate change and global warming. Increasing industrialization causing a rapid consumption of
fossil fuels which is leading toward climate change and energy deficiency, due to this reason
human should be move toward renewable energy resources that will reduce greenhouse gases
emission (Deng et al. n.d.). Because of issues about energy security and the environmental
impact of fossil fuels, the usage of renewable energy is rapidly expanding, resulting in an
improvement in people's living conditions (Unpaprom Y, Intasaen O, Yongphet P, Ramaraj R.
Cultivatio... - Google Scholar n.d.). These impacts are moving against the international efforts
like Kyoto Protocol agreement on climate change. In recent years, two major crises raised due to
excess energy consumption of fossil fuels (80% of required energy): first one is environmental
pollution and other one is growing acceleration in the reduction of energy resources (Rao et al.
2010). That why, need for clean and renewable energies are of top concerns (Parsaee et al. n.d.).
in this world, biogas is the major renewable resource that can replace the use of fossil fuels
(Pazuch et al. 2017). The advantage of energy produced by biomass, e.g., by conversion to
biogas , is low capital investment required as compared to other renewable energies like hydro,
wind and solar (Rao et al. 2010).
Biogas
Biogas is the mixture of different gases obtained by breaking down the organic matter. Biogas
production is a well-founded technology primarily used for the generation of renewable energy
and also for the valorization of organic residues. Biogas is the end product of a biological
process, known as anaerobic digestion, in which different types of microorganisms, follow
diverse metabolic ways to decompose the organic matter (Kougias and Angelidaki 2018).
Degradation of organic matter results in the production of biogas by using microorganisms under
anaerobic conditions. Anaerobic digestion changes organic matter into biogas, a renewable fuel
that could be used to produce electricity, heat or as vehicle fuel. In recent years, Anaerobic
Digestion of waste and residues from municipal organic waste, sewage sludge, agriculture and
industry etc. has become one of the most interesting renewable energy pathway (Scarlat,
Dallemand, and Fahl 2018).
Here, biogas production from organic waste has many advantages as compared to other
alternative sources such as incineration, biohydrogen, bio-oil and other biological products, e.g.,
bioethanol, biobutanol, electricity and biodiesel (Rao et al. 2010).

Agricultural Waste
Agricultural waste that is also known as agricultural biomass field residue after the fields have
been reaped. Agricultural waste is highly organic and can be utilized in energy production
process instead of wasting it. Energy produced from this green waste has two benefits: it can
fulfil the need of energy without consuming fossil fuels and it will not be a key toward global
warming or any other that harm the environment.
Pakistan basic energy resources consist of fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas, Pakistan do not have
enough oil reserves to meet the public and national need. So, for this purpose Pakistan import
large quantity of crude oil and petroleum products. Natural gas resources are limited too and
getting low with the passage of time. So, the only thing that Pakistan have in large amount is
coal. Pakistan is utilizing this coal in coal powered thermal plants to meet the need but the
drawback of this is air pollution because of its emissions and air pollution is a prime concern
now a days there. The only solution of all the problems is usage of renewable resources for the
production of biogas. It will fulfil national needs without deform environment.
As, Pakistan is an agricultural country. So, a large amount of crops have been reaped each year
and the residue like wheat straw, rice straw, corn stover and grass left behind. As combustion is a
simple and effective way to remove plant residues, open burning is a common practice during
harvest seasons. Large amounts of gases and particulate matter (J. Li et al. 2014) are emitted that
affect local and regional air quality, with adverse effects on human health, visibility, and the
Earth's radiation balance (Yao et al. 2017). This residue is disposed or burnt by open burning and
as source of fire in kiln which becomes source of harmful emissions (Chaudhry et al. n.d.). But
this waste has enough potential to produce high value beneficial by-products such as biogas.

Grasses
Renewable energy resources in parts of Asia can not only help tackle climate change, but they
can also help with economic growth, employment, and energy security. Biogas production and
consumption are widely considered as a long-term strategy for reducing greenhouse gas
emissions. Grassland biomass can be used to generate energy in a variety of ways, and it is now
the most used feedstock for making biogas. Grasses are transformed to silage, which is used as
an anaerobic digestion feedstock. When it comes to energy crops, perennial grasses are ideal
since they grow quickly even on infertile soil, have minimal cultivation expenses, are more
accessible, can be consumed whole, and have smaller environmental implications than other
plants (Wongwatanapaiboon et al. 2012).
Types of Grasses
Ruzi Grass
Scientific name of Ruzi Grass is Brachiaria ruziziensis. It basically fulfills the domestic needs
like animal grazing. It mainly found in southern African continent. Because of the huge number
of seeds produced, the grass's ease of cultivation, and its role as a feedstock, it has become
popular as cattle silage (Dussadee, Unpaprom, and Ramaraj 2016). This grass is sensitive to dry
climate and needs specific fertilizer.
Bermuda or Star Grass
Scientific name of this grass is Cynodon sp. It includes the perennial grasses. It is native to warm
temperate to tropical region. It commonly grows in tropics and subtropics of Americas, Africa
and South-East Asia.
Pangola Grass
Scientific name of this grass is Digitaria decumbens. It is basically a forage grass originates
from South Africa and now it is growing worldwide in Africa, Australia, Oceania, America and
Asia (Tikam et al. 2013).
Miscanthus Grass
Scientific name of this grass is Miscanthus sinensis. Miscanthus grass is also named as Chinese
silvergrass. This grass is native to eastern Asia. This grass is perennial and clumping grass. It
also grows in some parts of Europe and America. This grass is generally grows 2 to 3 meter long
(Dussadee, Unpaprom, and Ramaraj 2016).

Anaerobic digestion
Bioenergy with low cost and less greenhouse gas emissions which will fulfill the growing
demand of energy will play an essential role in promoting renewable energy alternatives. For
renewable bioenergy production, methane gas can be produced from substrate like agriculture
waste, sludge from wastewater treatment plants, live stock dung and food waste by anaerobic
digestion conditions (Y. Li, Chen, and Wu 2019). China is producing 3.8 billion tons of livestock
dung each year estimated by the NDRC (National Development and Reform Commission).
Anaerobic digestion proceeds in three phases. These phases are described below;
1st Phase: In the very first case of anaerobic digestion acidogenic fermentation, hydrolysis,
methanogenesis and acetogenesis produced due to hydrogen occure. First, complex organic
matters break into the small units knows as monomers. Because, bacteria are unable to utilize
these complex organic matters directly. This all happens due to the amidogen’s hydrolytic
enzymes.
2nd Phase: in this phase acidification or fermentation occurs. Acidogenic fermentation bacteria
converts the soluble monomers that were made during 1st phase into volatile fatty acids (VFA).
3rd Phase: in this phase, hydrolytic products metabolized by hydrogen producing acetogens to
the acetic acid with some byproducts like hydrogen and carbohydrates. Some acetogenic bacteria
utilize the hydrogen gas as the substrate to yield the acetic acid and other products which were
produced as the result of acidification. After that, these products like acetic acid produce the
methane gas by methanogenesis (Y. Li, Chen, and Wu 2019).
Hydrolysis (the 1st phase of anaerobic digestion) is consider as slow process. So, a lot of work
and researches are executing by chemical, physical and biological pre-treatment to improve the
hydrolysis (Choong et al. n.d.).

Pre-treatment
Chemical Pretreatment
Cellulose is crystalline in structure and it resists the acids and bases (alkalis) (General Biomass
Cellulosic Technology Page n.d.). Alkalis and bases make the solution with lignin and
hemicellulose present in the structure of biomass and make them more feasible for the enzymatic
breakdown (Rodriguez et al. 2017). Alkali pretreatment is more efficient and effective than
acidic pretreatment to remove the break the lignin content because acid pretreatment solubilize
the hemicellulose (Behera et al. n.d.). The Alkalis most commonly used for the pretreatment are
potassium hydroxide (KOH), calcium hydroxide [Ca(OH)2], sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and
ammonium hydroxide (NH4OH). Chemical pretreatment breaks the lignin-cellulose bond into
cellulose, hemicellulose.
Biological Pretreatment
Biological pretreatment processes in three basic activities i.e. fungi, bacterial and enzymatic
activity. Two main types of fungi used in pretreatment i.e. brown, white- and soft-rot fungi. They
break the lignocellulose content in the agricultural substrate. Brown rots breaks the cellulose and
white and soft rot breaks the lignin and cellulose content. Biological pretreatment by using
white-rot fungi and their enzymes are more environmental and economical favourable (Kuijk et
al. n.d.). Pretreatment by using white-rot fungi is good to reduce the incorporative behavior of
lignocellulose and it also increases the hydrolysis of carbohydrates (Zhao et al. n.d.).
For biological pretreatment, water is the vital factor because its normal concentration is needed
to maintain the nutrients as excess amount of water can stop the fungal growth by reducing the
available oxygen (Zhao et al. n.d.). Digestion, hydrolysis and acidification are the steps used in
the production of methane. This pretreatment method can be used alone or combine with other
pretreatment methods (Montgomery and Bochmann 2014).
Thermal Pretreatment
Lignin content in the biomass breaks very quickly and efficiently by thermal pretreatment. As
the temperature increases it breaks the bonds of the lignin and convert this into cellulose and
hemicellulose. This results in increasing the area of the biomass. The whole process of thermal
pretreatment occurs in autoclaves, pressure cooker and jacketed reactor. In this process, substrate
is first diluted with water. On the other hand thermal pretreatment reduces the viscosity of
sewage sludge when it is used as inoculum for anaerobic digestion (Carrère et al. n.d.).
Thermal pretreatment can be carried out with the addition of chemicals i.e. acid and alkali
(Rodriguez et al. 2017) it makes the treatment more effective. Sanitization of the feedstock is
another benefit of thermal pretreatment; microorganisms or pathogens are destroyed by high
temperatures.

Benefits of Biogas
Social, economic and environmental benefits related to the biogas are f=given below;
Health Benefits
 Biogas plants act as waste and sewage disposal facilities, directly contributing to
improved hygienic conditions for individual consumers. Open storage is avoided by
collecting dung in a central location and connecting latrines. Pathogens, on the other
hand, are thoroughly removed throughout the digesting process. Overall, sanitation and
hygiene have improved significantly, and a biogas plant can contribute to a longer life
expectancy.
 Diseases outbreak due to the poisonous gases and smoke i.e. respiratory disorders, eye
burning, skin infection and headache are reduces (EFFECT OF ALKALINE
PRETREATMENT AND IRON OXIDE NANOPARTIC... - Google Scholar n.d.).
Environmental Benefits
 A well-functioning biogas plant can replace all of a household's firewood or charcoal
consumption with biogas. The amount of firewood or charcoal saved is frequently
immediately translated into hectares of forest lost in macroeconomic cost-benefit
calculations. The financial benefit of biogas would then be reflected in the cost of
reforestation.
 Burning and dumping the waste polluting the ground water, air and is contributing the
green house gases. So, by the production of biogas from the waste will reduce the adverse
effects of waste on environment.
 Biogas production and its trend to use will reduce the load on conventional sources of
energy i.e. fossil fuels and will also protect them to further use.
Economic Benefits
 Biogas reduce the load on fossil fuels which used for automobiles, cooking and
lightening. An ordinary gas burner burning for an hour consumes 0.35 to 0.4 m³ of gas.
While the biogas burner consumes less than half of quantity when burn for an hour that is
0.15 to 0.175 m³ (EFFECT OF ALKALINE PRETREATMENT AND IRON OXIDE
NANOPARTIC... - Google Scholar n.d.).
 It will enhance management, sanitation and hygiene. As biogas production is the good
alternative to the manage all type of waste.
 Biogas will produce high nutrient rich fertilizer, which will increase the crops production
and generate a healthy revenue.
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