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One waste and two products: choosing the best operational temperature and hydraulic retention time to recover hydrogen or 1,3-propanediol from glycerol fermentation

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Abstract

This study aimed to compare the production of hydrogen and 1,3-propanediol from crude glycerol (10 g/L) in mesophilic (30 °C) and thermophilic (55 °C) anaerobic fluidized bed reactors, namely AFBR30 °C and AFBR55 °C, respectively, at hydraulic retention times (HRT) reduced from 8 to 1 h. In AFBR30 °C, the absence or low hydrogen yields can be attributed to the production of 1,3-propanediol (maximum of 651 mmol/mol glycerol), and the formation of caproic acid (maximum of 1097 mg/L) at HRTs between 8 and 2 h. In AFBR55 °C, the hydrogen yield of 1.20 mol H2/mol glycerol consumed was observed at the HRT of 1 h. The maximum yield of 1,3-propanediol in AFBR55 °C was equal to 804 mmol/mol glycerol at the HRT of 6 h and was concomitant with the production of hydrogen (0.87 mol H2/mol glycerol consumed) and butyric acid (1447 mg/L).

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Funding

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) (process 422223/2018-2 and 304723/2019-3), and Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo–Brasil (FAPESP) (Grant No. 2015/06246-7).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. 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, CEP13563-120, Brazil

    Andreza Nataline Simões & Camila Aparecida de Menezes

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

    Talles Barcelos da Costa & Edson Luiz Silva

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  1. Andreza Nataline Simões
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  2. Talles Barcelos da Costa
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  3. Camila Aparecida de Menezes
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  4. Edson Luiz Silva
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Andreza Nataline Simões (Investigation; conceptualization; formal analysis; writing—original draft); Talles Barcelos da Costa (investigation; conceptualization; Formal analysis; writing—original draft); Camila Aparecida de Menezes (conceptualization; formal analysis; writing—original draft; writing—review and editing); Edson Luiz Silva (investigation; conceptualization; Formal analysis; writing—review and editing; funding acquisition; project administration).

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Simões, A.N., da Costa, T.B., de Menezes, C.A. et al. One waste and two products: choosing the best operational temperature and hydraulic retention time to recover hydrogen or 1,3-propanediol from glycerol fermentation. Bioprocess Biosyst Eng 44, 2491–2502 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-021-02620-9

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