Methane production through anaerobic digestion (AD) using agricultural straw is an important way to resolve the energy shortage in rural China. However

the AD technology is limited by low conversion efficiency due to recalcitrant nature of lignocellulosic structure in the straw. In the present study

the effect of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) pretreatment at three temperatures on the biogasification performance of corn straw through AD was evaluated by using a laboratory-scale

continuous anaerobic biogas digester. NaOH pretreatment was effective in biodegradation of the lignocellulosic structure of corn straw. The cellulose content of pretreated straw was decreased by 24.4% to 33.2%

the hemicellulose content decreased by 14.2% to 52.4%

and the lignin content decreased by 9.3% to 29.3%

compared with those of untreated straw. The highest methane yield

188.7 ml CH4·(g VS)-1

was achieved when the corn straw was pretreated with 8% NaOH at 55℃

which was 84.2% higher than that of untreated straw. Therefore

pretreatment of 8% NaOH at 55℃ is recommended to improve biodegradability and enhance anaerobic digestibility of straw.