Enhanced methane production from anaerobic digestion of hybrid Pennisetum by selectively removing lignin with sodium chlorite

To enhance the biodegradability and methane production of hybrid Pennisetum, a pretreatment method with high selectivity for lignin removal, namely sodium chlorite/acetic acid (SCA) pretreatment, was examined in this work. Results showed that SCA pretreatment can selectively remove lignin with minimal impact on cellulose and hemicellulose. After up to 200 min of SCA treatment, 79.4% of lignin was removed and over 90% of the holo-cellulose was retained. The physicochemical changes after pretreatment were analyzed by confocal laser scanning microscopy, X-ray diffractometer and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, showing that the majority of lignin was removed from secondary cell walls and cell middle lamella while the chlorite-resistant lignin remained in the cell corner. Lignin removal significantly enhanced the biodegradability from 59.6% to 86.4% and increased methane production by 38.3%. Energy balance showed that SCA pretreatment was efficient to increase the energy output of hybrid Pennisetum.