Use of Cacao Pod Husks Under Different Pretreatments for Bioenergy Production

Abstract

The current study sought to determine the potential of cacao pod husks for energy use. Biogas potential, the kinetics of anaerobic digestion at bench scale, and physicochemical characterisation of materials were evaluated for cacao pod husks (CPH), depectinised cacao pod husks (CPH-D), and cacao pod husks treated by Pleurotus spp. (CPH-DF). These materials showed accumulated biogas productions of 314.86 ±4.45 l·kg−1 VS−1, 369.49 ±15.98 l·kg−1 VS−1, and 342.52 ±10.98 l·kg−1 VS−1, respectively. The calorific values in CPH-DF, CPH, and CHP-DF were 17.65 MJ·kg−1, 15.43 MJ·kg−1, and 17.21 MJ·kg−1, respectively. These values indicate that the evaluated materials have a high potential to be used as biofuels.