article · Scientific Reports
Understanding the chemical and physical traits of biomass is crucial for improving energy recovery during conversion, particularly in anaerobic digestion. This research evaluated the physicochemical characteristics of three lignocellulosic raw materials sourced from Nigeria: cow dung, mango pulp, and the shrub Chromolaena odorata. Using standardised testing methods, the raw materials were examined for proximate composition, calorific value, ultimate elemental content, and structural composition, alongside microbial profiling for cow dung. The samples exhibited calorific values between 13.77 and 16.16 MJ/kg, with carbon content ranging from roughly 40 to 43 percent. Structural analysis identified hemicellulose, lignin, and cellulose fractions within ranges suitable for breakdown, whilst cow dung contained diverse bacterial species including Bacillus cereus and Escherichia coli. These established baseline properties align with existing literature, confirming that these organic wastes are viable feedstocks for producing methane-rich biogas.
Transitioning to renewable energy requires reliable domestic fuel sources. By detailing the baseline properties of widespread agricultural and organic materials, this work provides the physical and chemical benchmarks necessary to assess whether locally available residues can serve as dependable, effective inputs for renewable biogas generation instead of ending up as unused waste.
The findings inform potential operators of anaerobic digestion facilities and biofuel processors looking for viable regional feedstocks. By validating the fuel and elemental characteristics of mango pulp, cow dung, and Chromolaena odorata, the work provides basic feedstock characterisation data. This represents early-stage laboratory characterisation, meaning full digestion performance, gas yields, and processing systems must still be tested before commercial deployment.
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Abstract The beneficial effects of biofuels as components of the worldwide energy supply are unquantifiable because they have versatile applications. However, an adequate understanding of the chemical properties of typical biomass is an integral aspect of maximizing the energy potentials because it is susceptible to biomass behavior during the conversion process, especially anaerobic digestion. Therefore, this study investigated the physicochemical characteristics of selected lignocellulose biomass, namely; cow dung, mango pulp, and Chromolaena odorata of Nigerian origin. The raw biomasses were characterized by proximate, calorific, ultimate, compositional, and microbial (for cow dung only) analyses using ASTM standards and equipment. Raw biomass characterization showed that cow dung, mango pulp, and Chromolaena odorata leaves recorded percentages; fixed carbon, volatile matter, and ash contents in addition to calorific values in the ranges of 6.22–7.25%, 5.02–7.79%, 1.14–1.91,% and 13.77–16.16 MJ/kg, respectively. The ultimate analysis of cow dung, mango pulp and Chromolaena odorata recorded carbon (43.08, 39.98, 41.69%); hydrogen (7.87, 6.74, 9.86%); nitrogen (1.53, 1.34, 1.51%); sulphur (0.46, 0.12, 0.25%) and oxygen (47.06, 51.82, 46.69%), respectively. Compositional analysis of the biomass gave percentages in the range of 7.47–11.37 for hemicellulose, 0.22–6.33 for lignin, and 3.71–12.03 for cellulose, while the microbial analysis of cow dung gave total bacteria counts of 5.78 × 10 8 and 3.93 × 10 5 cfu/g on wet and dry bases, respectively, which implied that it was rich in microbial colonies, evidently from the various species found, such as Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Pseudomonas aureginosa, Proteus morganii, and Micrococcus spp. In this regard, the physicochemical properties of selected biomass of Nigerian origin were established to conform with those of the literature and thus can be regarded as suitable feedstock for anaerobic digestion resulting in methane-rich biogas products.
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DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-07061-2
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