Co-digestion of sweet sorghum bagasse with scientific and crude glycerols for electricity generation

Abstract

With the global fossil fuel supplies dwindling and the alarming increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the need for alternative, clean energies, from carbon neutral sources is pressing. This impetus advanced research on microbial fuel cells to increase the current produced during the bioelectrochemical process. The beneficiation of abundant biomass such as sweet sorghum bagasse, and crude glycerol could contribute to maintain high level of power in the MFC. The influence of pretreatment and co-digestion on the utilisation of sweet sorghum bagasse in the MFC was investigated in this study. The results showed that pretreatment allowed the release of simple carbohydrates and improved the utilisation of sweet sorghum bagasse in the MFC; maximum power density (11 mW/m2) was achieved from the co-digestion of pretreated bagasse and crude glycerol at relatively lower concentrations. Co-digestion of adequate amounts of pretreated sweet sorghum bagasse and crude glycerol improve the power output in the MFC