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Critical analysis of hydrogen production from mixed culture fermentation under thermophilic condition (60 °C)

  • Bioenergy and biofuels
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Abstract

Bio-hydrogen production from mixed culture fermentation (MCF) of glucose was studied by conducting a comprehensive product measurement and detailed mass balance analysis of their contributions to the final H2 yield. The culture used in this study was enriched on glucose at 60 °C through a sequential batch operation consisting of daily glucose feeds, headspace purging and medium replacement every third day in serum bottles for over 2 years. 2-Bromoethanesulfonate (BES) was only required during the first three 3-day cycles to permanently eliminate methanogenic activity. Daily glucose feeds were fully consumed within 24 h, with a persistent H2 yield of 2.7 ± 0.1 mol H2/mol glucose, even when H2 was allowed to accumulate over the 3-day cycle. The measured H2 production exceeded by 14 % the theoretical production of H2 associated with the fermentation products, dominated by acetate and butyrate. Follow-up experiments using acetate with a 13C-labelled methyl group showed that the excess H2 production was not due to acetate oxidation. Chemical formula analysis of the biomass showed a more reduced form of C5H11.8O2.1N1.1 suggesting that the biomass formation may even consume produced H2 from fermentation.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support of the Australian Research Council Discovery Project DP0774669, Natural Science Foundation of China (50978244). National Hi-Technology Development 863 Program of China (2011AA060901), the Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, the Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (wk2060190040)

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  1. Hang Zheng

    Present address: School of Earth Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, 4072, Queensland, Australia

  2. Cathryn O’Sullivan

    Present address: CSIRO Agriculture, Underwood Ave, Floreat, WA, Australia

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Solid Waste Bioprocessing, School of Civil Engineering, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, 4072, Queensland, Australia

    Hang Zheng, Cathryn O’Sullivan & William P. Clarke

  2. CAS Key Laboratory of Urban Pollutant Conversion, Department of Chemistry, University of Science & Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, China

    Raymond J. Zeng

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  1. Hang Zheng
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Zheng, H., Zeng, R.J., O’Sullivan, C. et al. Critical analysis of hydrogen production from mixed culture fermentation under thermophilic condition (60 °C). Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 100, 5165–5176 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-016-7482-z

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