Synthesis of biomethane from obnoxious weed parthenium hysterophorous using biocatalyst in semi-batch anaerobic digester

In today’s world due to rapid urbanization and industrialization the global energy demand is increasing rapidly and about 88% of this demand is ruled over at present by fossil fuels. The dependence on fossil fuel as primary energy source has led to environment degradation and human health problems. To mitigate these problems, an alternative energy resource which can meet the sufficient demand is Biogas production from wastes. A promising alternative raw material for the accomplishment of Biomethanation is utilization of renewable lignocellulosic biomass. Parthenium hysterophorus L, an obnoxious flowering plant, offers a big challenge to all attempts of control because of its high regeneration capacity, production of huge amounts of seeds, high seed germinabilty and extreme adaptability to wide range of ecosystems. An experimental study on biomethanation using bio-waste – Parthenium hysterophorus was utilised to optimize the yield of methane gas with cow urine used as a catalyst. The experimental study was carried out under anaerobic condition in a semi-batch digester over the influence of pH (6-7.5), temperature (30-40 °C). In this study, pH, temperature, total solid (TS) and volatile fatty acid (VFA) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) were measured during the experiment. In the experiment it was found that using different parametric range like pH 6.5-7.5, temperature 35-40 °C and total solid (TS) 7.5 - 8.1%, the volatile fatty acid (VFA) yield was 128-942 mg/L and the maximum amount of methane produced was 62%.