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Controlling methane and hydrogen production from cheese whey in an EGSB reactor by changing the HRT

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Abstract

This study assessed the effects of hydraulic retention time (HRT; 8 h–0.25 h) on simultaneous hydrogen and methane production from cheese whey (5000 mg carbohydrates/L) in a mesophilic (30 °C) expanded granular sludge bed (EGSB) reactor. Methane production was observed at HRTs from 4 to 0.25 h. The maximum methane yield (9.8 ± 1.9 mL CH4/g CODap, reported as milliliter CH4 per gram of COD applied) and methane production rate (461 ± 75 mL CH4/day Lreactor) occurred at HRTs of 4 h and 2 h, respectively. Hydrogen production increased as methane production decreased with decreasing HRT from 8 to 0.25 h. The maximum hydrogen yield of 3.2 ± 0.3 mL H2/g CODap (reported as mL H2 per gram of COD applied) and hydrogen production rate of 1951 ± 171 mL H2/day Lreactor were observed at the HRT of 0.25 h. The decrease in HRT from 8 to 0.25 h caused larger changes in the bacterial populations than the archaea populations. With the decrease in HRT (6 h–0.25 h), the Shannon diversity index decreased (3.02–2.87) for bacteria and increased (1.49–1.83) for archaea. The bacterial dominance increased (0.059–0.066) as the archaea dominance decreased (0.292–0.201) with the HRT decrease from 6 to 0.25 h.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior—Brasil (CAPES)—Finance Code 001, Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico—Brasil (CNPq), and Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo—Brasil (FAPESP).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, Federal University of São Carlos. Rod. Washington Luis, km 235, São Carlos/SP, 13565-905, Brazil

    Lucas Rodrigues Ramos & Edson Luiz Silva

  2. Department of Hydraulics and Sanitation, School of Engineering of São Carlos, University of São Paulo. Av. João Dagnone, 1100, Jd. Santa Angelina, São Carlos/SP, 13563-120, Brazil

    Camila Aparecida de Menezes, Laís Américo Soares, Isabel Kimiko Sakamoto & Maria Bernadete Amâncio Varesche

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  1. Lucas Rodrigues Ramos
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Correspondence to Edson Luiz Silva.

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Ramos, L.R., de Menezes, C.A., Soares, L.A. et al. Controlling methane and hydrogen production from cheese whey in an EGSB reactor by changing the HRT. Bioprocess Biosyst Eng 43, 673–684 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-019-02265-9

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