Abstract:

China has the largest annual output of crop residues in the world, of which corn stalk makes the biggest proportion and distributes the most extensively in the country. Anaerobic digestion for biogas production is an effective method to utilize corn stalk. However, the compact structure of lignocellulose of the corn stalk per se may cause a series of problems in biogas production, such as low biogas yield, low methane content, low biodegradability and long fermentation process. Therefore, it is necessary to have corn stalk pretreated to break its original  structure and improve its biodegradability. A comprehensive review was conducted of recent progresses in the researches on technologies for pretreating corn stalk for biogas production, including physical, biological, and chemical approaches, for comparison. It is expected that the review may provide some references for selection of a proper corn stalk pretreatment method to improve biogas yield. 

Key words: corn stover, pretreatment, lignocellulose, anaerobic digestion, biogas productivit