Enhancing the anaerobic digestion of lignocellulose of municipal solid waste using a microbial pretreatment method

•Effect of microbial pretreatment on methane production of LMSW was evaluated.•Soluble substrates in hydrolysate increased obviously after microbial pretreatment.•CH4 production yields and rates significantly increased after microbial pretreatment. The use of biological pretreatment in anaerobic digestion systems has some potential; however, to date, these methods have not been able to effectively increase methane production of lignocellulose of municipal solid waste (LMSW). In this study a thermophilic microbial consortium (MC1) was used as a pretreatment method in order to enhance biogas and methane production yields. The results indicated that sCOD concentration increased significantly in the early stages of pretreatment. Ethanol, acetic acid, propionic acid, and butyric acid were the predominant volatile organic products in the MC1 hydrolysate. Biogas and methane production yields of LMSW significantly increased following MC1 pretreatment. In addition, the methane production rate of the treated LMSW was greater than that observed from the untreated sample.