Anaerobic digestion of Ulva sp. 2. study of Ulva degradation and methanisation of liquefaction juices

摘要

'Green tides' Ulva is often harvested for environmental reasons, and put in a dump. Observations on degradation of Ulva in such dumps led us to consider recovery of hydrolysis juice in order to methanize this rather than the entire alga. The hydrolysis step was then studied in the laboratory and under real conditions. The decomposition of Ulva was rapid (7.1% C d~(-1)), but its degradation incomplete (38% C remaining after 52 days). After 9 months m a dump, VFA contents in the flows were insignificant and N and C contents in the remaining material were due to the non-degradable fraction. Modifications of the physical or chemical conditions of hydrolysis didn't improve suffisently significantly the results to be used on a large scale. On the other hand, the techniques which could allow a rapid recovery of the juice improved together the recovery of the COD. The hydrolysis juice is a very good substrate for methanisation: the methane yield reached 330 L kg~(-1) VS, and the epuration rate 93%. The process combining the two steps, hydrolysis andjuice methanisation, is one which offers a reasonable compromise between methane output, productivity of the system and treatment cost. However, there are still two problems, dependence on climatic conditions, and too low a recovery rate of the initial organic material.