Methane production from acid hydrolysates of Agave tequilana bagasse: Evaluation of hydrolysis conditions and methane yield

• Acid hydrolysis was evaluated by RSM on two types of Agave tequilana bagasse.
• CH4 production from hydrolysates was evaluated with and without nutrients in AnSBRs.
• AnSBR operated without nutrient addition presented a constant CH4 yield.
• AnSBR operated with nutrient addition presented a gradual CH4 suppression.
• Nutrient addition promoted CH4 suppression by affecting archaeal/bacterial ratio.

Evaluation of diluted acid hydrolysis for sugar extraction from cooked and uncooked Agave tequilana bagasse and feasibility of using the hydrolysates as substrate for methane production, with and without nutrient addition, in anaerobic sequencing batch reactors (AnSBR) were studied. Results showed that the hydrolysis over the cooked bagasse was more effective for sugar extraction at the studied conditions. Total sugars concentration in the cooked and uncooked bagasse hydrolysates were 27.9 g/L and 18.7 g/L, respectively. However, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural was detected in the cooked bagasse hydrolysate, and therefore, the uncooked bagasse hydrolysate was selected as substrate for methane production. Interestingly, results showed that the AnSBR operated without nutrient addition obtained a constant methane production (0.26 L CH4/g COD), whereas the AnSBR operated with nutrient addition presented a gradual methane suppression. Molecular analyses suggested that methane suppression in the experiment with nutrient addition was due to a negative effect over the archaeal/bacterial ratio.