Evaluation of anaerobic degradation, biogas and digestate production of cereal silages using nylon-bags

• Degradation rate and biogas and digestate production during AD were evaluated.
• Silages of maize, triticale and wheat were digested, in nylon bags, for 75 days.
• Maize ear silage shows the highest degradation (98%); wheat silage the lowest (83%).
• Degradation and biogas production are faster at the beginning of the digestion time.
• Digestate mass, expressed as percentage of the fresh matter, ranges from 38% to 84%.

In this study, the degradation efficiency and the biogas and digestate production during anaerobic digestion were evaluated for the cereal silages most used to feed biogas plants. To this purpose, silages of: maize from the whole plant, maize from the ear, triticale and wheat were digested, inside of nylon bags, in laboratory scale digesters, for 75 days. Overall, the test involved 288 nylon bags.After 75 days of digestion, the maize ear silage shows the highest degradation efficiency (about 98%) while wheat silage the lowest (about 83%). The biogas production ranges from 438 to 852 Nm3/t of dry matter for wheat and ear maize silage, respectively. For all the cereal silages, the degradation as well as the biogas production are faster at the beginning of the digestion time.Digestate mass, expressed as percentage of the fresh matter, ranges from 38% to 84% for wheat and maize ear silage, respectively.