ANAEROBIC DIGESTION OF SORGHUM ALCOHOLIC FERMENTATION RESIDUES IN A SINGLE STAGE SYSTEM
Abstract
The viability of sweet sorghum bioethanol production and other energy crops depends to a large extent on the ability to further utilize the residues. Since the residues are high in organic matter, a particularly promising process is the anaerobic digestion of the residues in order to produce biogas. To study the effectiveness of anaerobic digestion in the remnants of alcoholic fermentation of sweet sorghum, after the ethanol has been removed by distillation, a series of experiments were performed to develop the necessary know-how and optimize biogas production (CH4 and H2). This work describes the experiments performed in order to study first, the possibility for simultaneous hydrolysis and digestion of all the residues of sweet sorghum in a single stage- system.