Use of N-Methylmorpholine N-oxide (NMMO) pretreatment to enhance the bioconversion of lignocellulosic residues to methane

Lignocellulosic residues (LRs) are one of the most abundant wastes produced worldwide. Nevertheless, unlocking the full energy potential from LRs for biofuel production is limited by their complex structure. This study investigated the effect of N-methylmorpholine N-oxide (NMMO) pretreatment on almond shell (AS), spent coffee grounds (SCG), and hazelnut skin (HS) to improve their bioconversion to methane. The pretreatment was performed using a 73% NMMO solution heated at 120 °C for 1, 3, and 5 h. The baseline methane productions achieved from raw AS, SCG, and HS were 54.7 (± 5.3), 337.4 (± 16.5), and 265.4 (± 10.4) mL CH4/g VS, respectively. The NMMO pretreatment enhanced the methane potential of AS up to 58%, although no changes in chemical composition and external surface were observed after pretreatment. Opposite to this, pretreated SCG showed increased porosity (up to 63%) and a higher sugar percentage (up to 27%) after pretreatment despite failing to increase methane production. All pretreatment conditions were effective on HS, achieving the highest methane production of 400.4 (± 9.5) mL CH4/g VS after 5 h pretreatment. The enhanced methane production was due to the increased sugar percentage (up to 112%), lignin removal (up to 29%), and loss of inhibitory compounds during the pretreatment. An energy assessment revealed that the NMMO pretreatment is an attractive technology to be implemented on an industrial scale for energy recovery from HS residues.