Evaluation of Different Microbial Seeds on the Carbon Dioxide Production and Weight Loss of Sugarcane Bagasse Composting

Adsorption is a common tertiary wastewater treatment for industry in which natural, lignocellulosic, adsorbents have been researched regarding their potential for activated carbon (AC) replacement. Generally, these adsorbents have a lower adsorption potential, but are a more abundant and cheaper alternative to AC. Sugarcane bagasse is a promising material as a natural adsorbent. Once any adsorbent has reached its maximum capacity for industrial contaminants, it must be managed as a hazardous material. Currently, there is a lack of data on how these novel adsorbents will be either treated or managed after they are spent. Currently –composting is a viable disposal technology for lignocellulosic biomass and a known hazardous waste treatment. This study aims to initiate a series of experiments on compost-based biodegradation as a management and treatment method for spent, natural adsorbents using sugarcane bagasse as a model material.

The objective of this study is to evaluate several microbial inoculum sources; compost, activated sludge, cow manure and white rot fungi, for lignocellulosic biodegradation by monitoring carbon dioxide production and weight loss of a sugarcane bagasse adsorbent. Using forecasting to evaluate mass loss at 60 days, cow manure was forecasted as the best inoculum with a predicted 120% mass loss and white rot fungus consortium next with a 74% mass loss.