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Fermentative hydrogen production from low-value substrates

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Abstract

Hydrogen is a promising energy source that is believed to replace the conventional energy sources e.g. fossil fuels over years. Hydrogen production methods can be divided into conventional production methods which depend mainly on fossil fuels and alternative production methods including electrolysis of water, biophotolysis and fermentation hydrogen production from organic waste materials. Compared to the conventional methods, the alternative hydrogen production methods are less energy intensive and negative-value substrates i.e. waste materials can be used to produce hydrogen. Among the alternative methods, fermentation process including dark and photo-fermentation has gained more attention because these processes are simple, waste materials can be utilized, and high hydrogen yields can be achieved. The fermentation process is affected by several parameters such as type of inoculum, pH, temperature, substrate type and concentration, hydraulic retention time, etc. In order to achieve optimum hydrogen yields and maximum substrate degradation, the operating conditions of the fermentation process must be optimized. In this review, two routes for biohydrogen production as dark and photo-fermentation are discussed. Dark/photo-fermentation technology is a new approach that can be used to increase the hydrogen yield and improve the energy recovery from organic wastes.

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Abbreviations

ABR:

Anaerobic baffled reactor

AFBR:

Anaerobic fluidized bed reactor

CH4 :

Methane

CO2 :

Carbon dioxide

COD:

Chemical oxygen demand

CSTR:

Continuous stirring tank reactor

DF:

Dark fermentation

DO:

Dissolved oxygen

ΔG∘ :

Gibbs free energy

H2 :

Hydrogen

H2 yield:

Hydrogen yield

HAc:

Acetic acid

HBu:

Butyric acid

HHV:

Higher heating value

HPr:

Propionic acid

HPR:

Hydrogen production rate

LHV:

Lower heating value

MFCs:

Microbial fuel cells

NPs:

Nanoparticles

OLR:

Organic loading rate

ORP:

Oxidation reduction potential

PBBR:

Pack bed biofilm reactor

PNSB:

Purple non-sulfur bacteria

TWW:

Textile wastewater

UASB:

Up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket

VFAs:

Volatile fatty acids

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Urban Water and Waste Management Department, Faculty of Engineering, University of Duisburg-Essen, Universitätsstr. 15, 45141, Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

    Ahmed H. S. Hassan, Thorsten Mietzel, Ruth Brunstermann, Sebastian Schmuck, Jens Schoth, Marco Küppers & Renatus Widmann

  2. Water Pollution Research Department, National Research Centre, El-Buhouth Str., Dokki, P.O. Box 12622, Cairo, Egypt

    Ahmed H. S. Hassan

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  1. Ahmed H. S. Hassan
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  2. Thorsten Mietzel
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  3. Ruth Brunstermann
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  4. Sebastian Schmuck
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  5. Jens Schoth
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  6. Marco Küppers
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  7. Renatus Widmann
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Correspondence to Ahmed H. S. Hassan.

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Hassan, A.H.S., Mietzel, T., Brunstermann, R. et al. Fermentative hydrogen production from low-value substrates. World J Microbiol Biotechnol 34, 176 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-018-2558-9

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