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Biological Processes for Hydrogen Production

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Anaerobes in Biotechnology

Part of the book series: Advances in Biochemical Engineering/Biotechnology ((ABE,volume 156))

Abstract

Methane is produced usually from organic waste in a straightforward anaerobic digestion process. However, hydrogen production is technically more challenging as more stages are needed to convert all biomass to hydrogen because of thermodynamic constraints. Nevertheless, the benefit of hydrogen is that it can be produced, both biologically and thermochemically, in more than one way from either organic compounds or water. Research in biological hydrogen production is booming, as reflected by the myriad of recently published reviews on the topic. This overview is written from the perspective of how to transfer as much energy as possible from the feedstock into the gaseous products hydrogen, and to a lesser extent, methane. The status and remaining challenges of all the biological processes are concisely discussed.

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Abbreviations

AcCoA:

Acetyl-Coenzyme A

AD:

Anaerobic digestion

BES:

Bio-electrochemical systems

BHP:

Biological hydrogen process

CBC:

Calvin–Benson cycle

CEF:

Cyclic electron flow

CEM:

Cation exchange membrane

CSTR:

Continuous stirred tank reactor

DF:

Dark fermentation

DFE:

Dark fermentation effluent

DOT:

Dissolved oxygen tension

DW:

Dry weight

E EMF :

Electromotive force (V)

E MEC :

Overall actual energy requirement of the system (V)

EMP:

Embden–Meyerhof pathway

EOC:

Excreted organic compounds

Fd:

Ferredoxin

FHL:

Formate hydrogen lyase

FNR:

Ferredoxin:NAD(P)+ oxidoreductase

H2ase:

Hydrogenase

HE:

Hydroelectrogenesis

HRT:

Hydraulic retention time (h)

I :

Current (A)

I V :

Volumetric current density (A m−2)

LCA:

Life cycle assessment

MEC:

Microbial electrolysis cell

MFC:

Microbial fuel cell

PBR:

Photobioreactor

PF:

Photofermentation

PFL:

Pyruvate formate lyase

PFOR:

Pyruvate ferredoxin:oxidoreductase

P H2 :

Partial hydrogen pressure (Pa)

PHB:

Polyhydroxybutyrate

PS I:

Photosystem I

PS II:

Photosystem II

Q H2 :

Volumetric hydrogen productivity (mol H2 L−1 h−1)

r CAT :

Cathodic hydrogen recovery

RubisCO:

Ribulose 1,5-biphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase

R Ω :

All the resistances in the system (Ω)

UA:

Up-flow anaerobic reactor

W H2 :

Energy content of hydrogen produced (J)

W P :

Energy of the power source (J)

W S :

Energy of the converted substrate (J)

Y H2 :

Hydrogen yield (mol H2/mol substrate)

η A :

Sum of contributions to the overpotential of the anode (V)

η C :

Sum of contributions to the overpotential of the cathode (V)

η TOT :

Overall energy recovery of the system

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by the Swedish Energy Agency (Energimyndigheten; project number 31090-2).

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  1. Division of Applied Microbiology, Lund University, 124, 221 00, Lund, Sweden

    Ed W. J. van Niel

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  1. Biotechnology, Department of Chemistry Center for Chemistry & Chemical Engineering, Lund University, Lund, Sweden

    Rajni Hatti-Kaul

  2. Biotechnology, Department of Chemistry Center for Chemistry & Chemical Engineering, Lund University, Lund, Sweden

    Gashaw Mamo

  3. Biotechnology, Department of Chemistry Center for Chemistry & Chemical Engineering, Lund University, Lund, Sweden

    Bo Mattiasson

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van Niel, E.W.J. (2016). Biological Processes for Hydrogen Production. In: Hatti-Kaul, R., Mamo, G., Mattiasson, B. (eds) Anaerobes in Biotechnology. Advances in Biochemical Engineering/Biotechnology, vol 156. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/10_2016_11

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