Tuesday, April 20, 2010
LL Conference Facility (Hilton Clearwater Beach)
In Colombia, there are 24.000 ha sown with Fique (Furcraea sp, Agavaceae, family’s) producing approximately 500.000 tons of waste-matter per year. This processing generates 3% of fiber and 97% of waste pulp (juice and pulp). This residue is discarded directly to the environment (soil and water) causing a serious contamination problem. The physical and chemical composition of waste pulp represents a potential substrate for anaerobic bioconversion systems. In this sense, it is possible to generate biogas as an alternative for the production of renewable energy, decrease pollution levels and produce an added value to the fique. The aim of this research was to study the viability to produce methane using fique’s waste pulp. The selection of microbial consortium for biogas production was carried out from seven inoculums from different biological sources: ruminal liquid (RL), pig waste slurry (PWS), cow manure (CM), anaerobic sludge from the water treatment plant residual (AS) and the co-digestion between each inoculum with the ruminal liquid in a 1:1 ratio. The experiments were developed in anaerobic reactors of 500 ml, with a fermentation volume of 400 ml and at 39 ºC. The co-digestion RL/PWS showed the best values of hydrolytic activity (0.004 UI/ml), methanogenic activity (5,11 gCOD/gVSS*d) and substrate adaption (43% of methane).Keywords: Anaerobic Digestion; Microbial Consortium; Co-digestion; Hydrolytic Activity; Methanogenic Activity; Adaptation to Substrate.