Biomethanation of white rotted and brown rotted rice straw

Biomethanation of white rotted and brown rotted rice straw was taken for the present investigation and their efficiency on biomethanation has been tested. Rice straw was treated with white rot fungus Phanerochaete chrysosporium (P-C) and brown rot fungus Polyporus ostreiformis (P-O). Biogas and methane production was increased by about 34.73% and 46.19% in P-C-treated straw and 21.12% and 31.94% in P-O-treated straw respectively. VFA production has also been increased in P-C and P-O treated straw compared to control straw which were 76.73% and 30.69% respectively. Reduction of COD has also been found during biomethanation. The rate of reduction of COD during the initial period of digestion was 59.01%, 55.55% and 26.00% in P-C-treated, P-O-treated and control straw respectively after 21 days of digestion.