Date of Award:

5-2021

Document Type:

Dissertation

Degree Name:

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department:

Biological Engineering

Committee Chair(s)

Foster A. Agblevor

Committee

Foster A. Agblevor

Committee

Ronald C. Sims

Committee

Jixun Zhan

Committee

Conly Hansen

Committee

Carlos Rodríguez

Abstract

Obtaining valuable products from environmental remediation waste is a sustainable approach that contributes to the ecological well-being of developing countries. In the present work, the feasibility of the water hyacinth anaerobic digestion as a post-weed management practice in the Ozama River (Dominican Republic) was demonstrated. The estimated energy required for harvesting was lower than that produced during digestion. The biomethanation of water hyacinth was improved by Alkaline Wet Air Oxidation (AWAO), a thermochemical pretreatment process that almost doubled the methane production rate and increased the yield by 24% when conducted at high temperatures. At lower temperatures, the methane yield of the AWAO water hyacinth was more than 40% higher than the unpretreated biomass. After subjecting water hyacinth to high temperature and low alkali AWAO, the addition of poultry litter biochar, a residue from thermochemical processing, improved the biomethanation kinetics of the system. This dissertation not only contains valuable information for the scale-up of the water hyacinth’s biomethanation as a biorefinery process in developed countries but also contributes to the development of sustainable 'from waste to product' technologies in developing countries like the Dominican Republic.

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