- Biogas is one of important method of waste management. Biogas is produced by the process of anaerobic digestion. It is a suitable method to convert organic waste materials of domestic and industrial o renewable energy and recycle nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus.
- Biogas is produced by a anaerobic digestion process in which the complex organic molecules in four main steps hydrolysis, acidogenesis, acetogenesis and methanogenesis.
- First step-Long chain organic polymers are hydrolyzed to from sugars, fatty acids and amino acids.
- Second step-Fermenting microorganisms are responsible for the initial attack on polymers and monomers and produce mainly acetate, hydrogen and varying amounts of volatile fatty acids such as propionate and butyrate.
- Third step- The higher volatile fatty acids produced during the acidogenic step are converted into acetate and hydrogen by obligate hydrogen producing acetogenic bacteria.
- The efficiency of the biogas production process hinges on the efficiency of the hydrolysis step. .The type and nature of feedstock defines the activity of the hydrolysis step. Feedstocks like livestock manure, food-processing wastes, and sewage sludge are easy to digest in comparison to biomass.
- The abundant availability of biomass in a agricultural country India makes it ideal raw material for biogas production.
- Lignocellulosic biomass mainly contains 40–60% cellulose and 20–40% hemicellulose, which is a good potential carbon source for biogas production if made accessible to the microorganisms.
- Defiant has developed an innovative process based on hydrothermal treatment to increase the effectiveness of the anaerobic digestion by increasing the soluble COD of the treated feedstock and thereby improving biogas yield.
- Additionally, Defiant has developed biological pre treatment process to enhance the hydrolysis of biomass to generate sugars and volatile free fatty acids. The company has developed tailor-made bacterial consortiums to improve biogas production from energy crops, food waste and invasive plant species. The company can provide a highly active consortium to produce biogas from Napier or elephant grass, food waste and water hyacinth.
