Advances in Phytochemistry, Textile and Renewable Energy Research for
Industrial Growth – Nzila et al. (Eds)
© 2022 Copyright the Author(s), ISBN: 978-1-032-11871-0
Open Access: www.taylorfrancis.com, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license
Production of biogas from sized cotton yarn wastes
Maurice Twizerimana ∗
Department of Manufacturing, Industrial and Textile Engineering, Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya
Milton M. Arimi
Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya
Eric Oyondi Nganyi
Department of Manufacturing, Industrial and Textile Engineering, Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya
Xumay Bura Hhaygwawu
Department of Mechanical, Production and Energy Engineering, Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya
ABSTRACT: Solid waste management is among the environmental challenges facing many industries in
the world today. Biogas production is one of the most cost-efficient renewable energy technologies that use
biodegradable wastes as feedstock. Furthermore, it is one of the methods for reducing greenhouse gas emission.
Cotton Yarn Wastes (CYW) is among the biodegradable wastes that are commonly managed by dumping onto
the open land or disposing in sanitary landfills where they undergo anaerobic decomposition. However, CYW
could be used as substrate to generate energy in the form of biogas that can be utilized in other activities like
powering textiles production. The aim of this study was to investigate the use of CYW as a substrate for biogas
production using anaerobic batch reactor. The experiment was carried out in reactors of two-liter capacity. The
CYW and inoculum were characterized before and after digestion. The CYW contained 93.18% total solids,
82.48% total volatile solids and 6.82% moisture content while the respective values for digested sludge were
21.61%, 23.61% and 78.38%, respectively. The carbon to nitrogen (C/N) ratio of inoculum was 20.5, which is
in the suitable range to keep the anaerobic digestion in a stable condition. However, the CYW had high carbon
content; resulting in a C/N ratio of 42.5. The effect of TS concentration at different ratios of CYW on biogas
volume produced was investigated. The reactors loading was differentiated using a mixture with concentration
corresponding to R 1 (1:1), R 2 (1:1.5), R 3 (1:2), R 4 (1:2.5), R 5 (1:3), R 6 (1:3.5), R 7 (1:4), R 8 (1:5), R 9 (1:6), and
R 10 (1:10) on TS content basis i.e. 50%, 40%, 33%, 28%, 25%, 22%, 20%, 18%, 14%, and 10% respectively. The
total biogas yield was 6307 mL, 6519 mL, 6711 mL, 7178 mL, 4878 mL, 3868 mL, 3720 mL, 3306 mL, 1164
mL, and 932 mL respectively after 36 days. The results indicated that biogas production increased with increase
in TS content. The ratio that provided 28% of TS content had the highest biogas yield. The average reduced TVS
at the end of digestion was 88.49%. The results of this test indicated that CYW is a suitable substrate for AD
due to its high biodegradability. Therefore, the reactors should run at 28% TS, for maximum biogas generation.
Keywords: batch reactor, total solids, textile waste, anaerobic digestion, moisture content.
1 INTRODUCTION
Since the beginning of the industrial revolution, the
energy requirement for industries has gradually been
increasing worldwide. Population growth and the promotion of living standards have always been one of
the key drivers of increased energy demand and fiber
consumption (Hasanzadeh, Mirmohamadsadeghi, &
Karimi, 2018; Wang, 2010). Fossil fuel resources
∗ Corresponding author
including crude oil and its derivatives, coal, and natural gas represent important world energy resources
(Al-Hamamre et al., 2017). However, increasing world
population along with reducing fossil fuel reserves
have resulted in global interest to gradually change
the energy source from fossils to renewable energy
(Rajendran & Balasubramanian, 2011a). One of the
environmental problems faced by the world is that
of solid waste management especially biodegradable
wastes such as textiles cotton yarn wastes (CYW).
The problem of the final textile wastes industry
has now assumed serious dimensions since it has
202
DOI 10.1201/9781003221968-27
Industrial Growth – Nzila et al. (Eds)
© 2022 Copyright the Author(s), ISBN: 978-1-032-11871-0
Open Access: www.taylorfrancis.com, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license
Production of biogas from sized cotton yarn wastes
Maurice Twizerimana ∗
Department of Manufacturing, Industrial and Textile Engineering, Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya
Milton M. Arimi
Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya
Eric Oyondi Nganyi
Department of Manufacturing, Industrial and Textile Engineering, Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya
Xumay Bura Hhaygwawu
Department of Mechanical, Production and Energy Engineering, Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya
ABSTRACT: Solid waste management is among the environmental challenges facing many industries in
the world today. Biogas production is one of the most cost-efficient renewable energy technologies that use
biodegradable wastes as feedstock. Furthermore, it is one of the methods for reducing greenhouse gas emission.
Cotton Yarn Wastes (CYW) is among the biodegradable wastes that are commonly managed by dumping onto
the open land or disposing in sanitary landfills where they undergo anaerobic decomposition. However, CYW
could be used as substrate to generate energy in the form of biogas that can be utilized in other activities like
powering textiles production. The aim of this study was to investigate the use of CYW as a substrate for biogas
production using anaerobic batch reactor. The experiment was carried out in reactors of two-liter capacity. The
CYW and inoculum were characterized before and after digestion. The CYW contained 93.18% total solids,
82.48% total volatile solids and 6.82% moisture content while the respective values for digested sludge were
21.61%, 23.61% and 78.38%, respectively. The carbon to nitrogen (C/N) ratio of inoculum was 20.5, which is
in the suitable range to keep the anaerobic digestion in a stable condition. However, the CYW had high carbon
content; resulting in a C/N ratio of 42.5. The effect of TS concentration at different ratios of CYW on biogas
volume produced was investigated. The reactors loading was differentiated using a mixture with concentration
corresponding to R 1 (1:1), R 2 (1:1.5), R 3 (1:2), R 4 (1:2.5), R 5 (1:3), R 6 (1:3.5), R 7 (1:4), R 8 (1:5), R 9 (1:6), and
R 10 (1:10) on TS content basis i.e. 50%, 40%, 33%, 28%, 25%, 22%, 20%, 18%, 14%, and 10% respectively. The
total biogas yield was 6307 mL, 6519 mL, 6711 mL, 7178 mL, 4878 mL, 3868 mL, 3720 mL, 3306 mL, 1164
mL, and 932 mL respectively after 36 days. The results indicated that biogas production increased with increase
in TS content. The ratio that provided 28% of TS content had the highest biogas yield. The average reduced TVS
at the end of digestion was 88.49%. The results of this test indicated that CYW is a suitable substrate for AD
due to its high biodegradability. Therefore, the reactors should run at 28% TS, for maximum biogas generation.
Keywords: batch reactor, total solids, textile waste, anaerobic digestion, moisture content.
1 INTRODUCTION
Since the beginning of the industrial revolution, the
energy requirement for industries has gradually been
increasing worldwide. Population growth and the promotion of living standards have always been one of
the key drivers of increased energy demand and fiber
consumption (Hasanzadeh, Mirmohamadsadeghi, &
Karimi, 2018; Wang, 2010). Fossil fuel resources
∗ Corresponding author
including crude oil and its derivatives, coal, and natural gas represent important world energy resources
(Al-Hamamre et al., 2017). However, increasing world
population along with reducing fossil fuel reserves
have resulted in global interest to gradually change
the energy source from fossils to renewable energy
(Rajendran & Balasubramanian, 2011a). One of the
environmental problems faced by the world is that
of solid waste management especially biodegradable
wastes such as textiles cotton yarn wastes (CYW).
The problem of the final textile wastes industry
has now assumed serious dimensions since it has
202
DOI 10.1201/9781003221968-27