Influence of Harvest Period and Frequency on Methane Yield of Pennisetum Hybrids
Publication: Journal of Energy Engineering
Volume 142, Issue 3
Abstract
The biomass yield and mesophilic anaerobic digestion performance of Pennisetum hybrid that were collected at different harvest periods and cutting frequencies were investigated. Results indicated that chemical composition, biomass yield, and specific methane yield of Pennisetum hybrid were significantly influenced by harvest period and cutting frequency. The contents of total solids, volatile solids, carbon, cellulose, lignin and starch increased with a prolonged harvest period, whereas the nitrogen and crude protein content decreased. Specific methane yields decreased considerably from 280 to VS with a prolonged harvest period, whereas the biomass yield per hectare increased. A maximum dry matter yield of was achieved when the Pennisetum hybrid was harvested in October. When the cutting frequencies increased from twice to three times per year, the specific methane yields increased as the biomass yield decreased. Because of the reverse trend of anaerobic digestion performance and biomass yield with different harvest periods and cutting frequencies, the methane yield per hectare increased with prolonged harvest period and decreased cutting frequency. A maximum area-specific methane yield of was obtained; the corresponding energy production per hectare was approximately 169.71 Gj. Methane yield from the Pennisetum hybrid in southern China suggested that this grass could be an alternative feedstock for biogas production.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The research was supported by the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (2012AA101802); the Chinese Academy of Sciences Key deployment project (KGZD-EW-304-1); the Key Laboratory of Environmental and Applied Microbiology, Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (KLCAS-2012-05); and the Special Cooperation Project of Chinese Academy of Chinese.
References
Amon, T., et al. (2007). “Methane production through anaerobic digestion of various energy crops grown in sustainable crop rotations.” Bioresour. Technol., 98(17), 3204–3212.
Borjesson, P., and Mattiasson, B. (2008). “Biogas as a resource-efficient vehicle fuel.” Trends Biotechnol., 26(1), 7–13.
Camesasca, L., Guigou, M., Ferrari, M. D., and Lareo, C. (2015). “Evaluation of dilute acid and alkaline pretreatments, enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation of napiergrass for fuel ethanol production.” Biomass Bioenergy, 74, 193–201.
de Morais, R. F., Quesada, D. M., Reis, V. M., Urquiaga, S., Alves, B. J. R., and Boddey, R. M. (2012). “Contribution of biological nitrogen fixation to elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum Schum.).” Plant Soil, 356(1-2), 23–34.
Farrell, G., Simons, S. A., and Hillocks, R. J. (2002). “Pests, diseases and weeds of napier grass, Pennisetum purpureum: A review.” Int. J. Pest Manage., 48(1), 39–48.
Frigon, J. C., Mehta, P., and Guiot, S. R. (2012). “Impact of mechanical, chemical and enzymatic pre-treatments on the methane yield from the anaerobic digestion of switchgrass.” Biomass Bioenergy, 36, 1–11.
GB/T 5009.6. (2003). “Determination of fat in foods.” National Standard of the People’s Republic of China.
GB/T 5009.9. (2008). “Determination of starch in foods.” National Standard of the People’s Republic of China.
GB/T 5009.5. (2010). “Determination of protein in foods.” National Standard of the People’s Republic of China.
Geber, U. (2002). “Cutting frequency and stubble height of reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea L.): Influence on quality and quantity of biomass for biogas production.” Grass Forage Sci., 57(4), 389–394.
Holliday, L. (2005). “Rye-grass as an energy crop using biogas technology.”, U.K. Dept. of Trade and Industry (DTI), U.K.
Knoll, J. E., Anderson, W. F., Strickland, T. C., Hubbard, R. K., and Malik, R. (2012). “Low-input production of biomass from perennial grasses in the coastal plain of Georgia, USA.” Bioenergy Res., 5(1), 206–214.
Lakaniemi, A. M., Koskinen, P. E. P., Nevatalo, L. M., Kaksonen, A. H., and Puhakka, J. A. (2011). “Biogenic hydrogen and methane production from reed canary grass.” Biomass Bioenergy, 35(2), 773–780.
Leblanc, V., Vanasse, A., Belanger, G., and Seguin, P. (2012). “Sweet pearl millet yields and nutritive value as influenced by fertilization and harvest dates.” Agron. J., 104(2), 542–549.
Lewandowski, I., Scurlock, J. M. O., Lindvall, E., and Christou, M. (2003). “The development and current status of perennial rhizomatous grasses as energy crops in the US and Europe.” Biomass Bioenergy, 25(4), 335–361.
Li, L. H., Kong, X. Y., Yang, F. Y., Li, D., Yuan, Z. H., and Sun, Y. M. (2012). “Biogas production potential and kinetics of microwave and conventional thermal pretreatment of grass.” Appl. Biochem. Biotechnol., 166(5), 1183–1191.
Masse, D. (2010). “Methane yield from switchgrass harvested at different stages of development in eastern Canada.” Bioresour. Technol., 101(24), 9536–9541.
Masse, D., Gilbert, Y., Savoie, P., Belanger, G., Parent, G., and Babineau, D. (2011). “Methane yield from switchgrass and reed canary grass grown in eastern Canada.” Bioresour. Technol., 102(22), 10286–10292.
Nizami, A. S., Orozco, A., Groom, E., Dieterich, B., and Murphy, J. D. (2012). “How much gas can we get from grass?” Appl. Energy, 92, 783–790.
Ouyang, Y. L., Liu, L., Duan, J. N. (2013). “Analysis and evaluation of the marginal land resources suitable for developing of elephant grass in China.” Econ. Res. Guide, 13, 256–258.
Prochnow, A., et al. (2009). “Bioenergy from permanent grassland—A review: 1. Biogas.” Bioresour. Technol., 100(21), 4931–4944.
Prochnow, A., Heiermann, M., Drenckhan, A., and Schelle, H. (2005). “Seasonal pattern of biomethanisation of grass from landscape management.” International Commission of Agricultural Engineering.
Ra, K., Shiotsu, F., Abe, J., and Morita, S. (2012). “Biomass yield and nitrogen use efficiency of cellulosic energy crops for ethanol production.” Biomass Bioenergy, 37, 330–334.
Rincon, B., Banks, C. J., and Heaven, S. (2010). “Biochemical methane potential of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.): Influence of growth stage and storage practice.” Bioresour. Technol., 101(21), 8179–8184.
Schmelzer, G. H. (1997). “Review of Pennisetum section Brevivalvula (Poaceae).” Euphytica, 97(1), 1–20.
Seppala, M., Paavola, T., Lehtomaki, A., and Rintala, J. (2009). “Biogas production from boreal herbaceous grasses—Specific methane yield and methane yield per hectare.” Bioresour. Technol., 100(12), 2952–2958.
Shiralipour, A., and Smith, P. H. (1984). “Conversion of biomass into methane gas.” Biomass, 6(1–2), 85–92.
Singh, S., Kushwaha, B. P., Nag, S. K., Mishra, A. K., Singh, A., and Anele, U. Y. (2012). “In vitro ruminal fermentation, protein and carbohydrate fractionation, methane production and prediction of twelve commonly used Indian green forages.” Anim. Feed Sci. Technol., 178(1-2), 2–11.
Smyth, B. M., Murphy, J. D., and O’Brien, C. M. (2009). “What is the energy balance of grass biomethane in Ireland and other temperate northern European climates?” Renewable Sustainable Energy Rev., 13(9), 2349–2360.
Somerville, C., Youngs, H., Taylor, C., Davis, S. C., and Long, S. P. (2010). “Feedstocks for lignocellulosic biofuels.” Science, 329(5993), 790–792.
Thamsiriroj, T., and Murphy, J. D. (2010). “Difficulties associated with monodigestion of grass as exemplified by commissioning a pilot-scale digester.” Energy Fuels, 24(8), 4459–4469.
Tilman, D., Hill, J., and Lehman, C. (2006). “Carbon-negative biofuels from low-input high-diversity grassland biomass.” Science, 314, 1598–1600.
Tilvikiene, V., Venslauskas, K., Navickas, K., Zuperka, V., Dabkevicius, Z., and Kadziuliene, Z. (2012). “The biomass and biogas productivity of perennial grasses.” Zemdirbyste-Agric., 99(1), 17–22.
Yasuda, M., et al. (2012). “Ethanol production from non-pretreated napiergrass through a simultaneous saccharification and fermentation process followed by a pentose fermentation with Escherichia coli KO11.” J. Biosci. Bioeng., 114(2), 188–192.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Energy Engineering
Volume 142 • Issue 3 • September 2016
Copyright
© 2015 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Dec 5, 2014
Accepted: Jun 11, 2015
Published online: Aug 4, 2015
Discussion open until: Jan 4, 2016
Published in print: Sep 1, 2016
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.