Browsing by Author "Opoku, Gertrude"

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    Valorisation of selected Ghanaian seaweeds for biogas production
    (KNUST, 2018-04) Opoku, Gertrude
    ABSTRACT Seaweed biomass has been considered as a promising feedstock for biogas production because it contains high concentrations of biodegradable organic solids. The research aimed at producing biogas from seaweeds. In order to optimize the biogas yields of seaweeds, batch fermentation test was conducted to examine the effects of total solids load and inoculum type on methane content from brown seaweed Sargassum vulgare and green seaweed Ulva fasciata before biogas production of seaweeds were conducted. From the results obtained, the highest methane concentration for brown seaweed and green seaweed were 55.45% v/v and 60.6% v/v using rumen and large intestine contents from cattle respectively. 8% TS (Total solids) of green seaweed inoculated with large intestine contents yielded the highest methane gas (60.6%) whiles 10% TS of brown seaweed inoculated with rumen contents recorded the highest methane gas (55.45%) over a digestion period of 55 days. The 8% TS of green seaweed also gave the highest biogas and methane yields of 608.7 ± 37.84 ml/g VS and 218.22 ± 15.38 ml CH4/g VS respectively whiles 10% TS of brown seaweed gave lower biogas and methane yields of 308.48 ± 4.09 ml/g VS and 106 ± 2.4 ml CH4/g VS respectively compared to green seaweed. However, the biogas and methane yields of green seaweed were both inhibited at 10% TS whiles those of brown seaweed were both inhibited at 12% TS. From the results obtained in this study, both seaweed species have high potential as substrates for biogas production in Ghana.