Effects of Different Temperature on Alkaline Pretreatment of Maize Cob and Biogas Production

This paper appraised the effect of different temperatures on pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass (maize cob) for use as co-substrate with cow dung and food waste. The method involves pretreatment of milled maize cob with 20% (w/v) NaOH at temperatures of 80, 100, 120 and 140oC. The pretreated maize cob was digested as co-substrates and biogas were estimated using the positive displacement technique. It was found that an increase in biomass pretreatment temperature is generally related to an increase in biogas production and the increase is statistically significant. However, pretreatment at 80 or 100oC may likely be viable economically when the energy burden for all treatments is considered. Thus, the application of low temperatures in the range of 80-100oC for pretreatment of maize cob using sodium hydroxide for possible use as co-substrates with cow dung and food waste is appropriate.