Construction of novel microbial consortia CS-5 and BC-4 valued for the degradation of catalpa sawdust and chlorophenols simultaneously with enhancing methane production

[Display omitted] •Two novel microbial consortia constructed for the first time for biomass-based biorefinery.•Chemical structure of catalpa sawdust broken and molecular geometry of lignin destroyed.•Over than 90% of CH4 obtained within 18 days of AD with the assistance of CS-5 and BC-4.•CS-5 and BC-4 led to the remarkable energy conversion efficiency of 44.3% (218.1 LN CH4/kg TS).•CS-5 and BC-4 consortia removed more than 69 and 77% of chlorophenols within 15 days. This study might be the first to explore the novel constructed microbial consortia CS-5 and BC-4 for enhancing methane (CH4) production during anaerobic digestion (AD) with simultaneous degradation of catalpa sawdust and chlorophenols (CPs). Significant reduction in cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin contents was achieved after the biodegradation of catalpa sawdust for 15 days by CS-5 and BC-4, with a total weight loss of 69.2 and 56.3%, respectively. The synergistic microbial consortia enhanced cumulative biogas and CH4 yields by 76.3 and 64.3%, respectively higher than the corresponding control at the end of AD. More than 90% of CH4 was produced within 18 days of AD as a result of microbial pretreatment of catalpa sawdust. These consortia resulted in remarkably higher energy conversion efficiency of 44.3% (218.1 LN CH4/kg TS) over the control. CS-5 and BC-4 removed more than 69 and 77% of the total amount of CPs tested after 15 days.