Evaluation of hydrogen producing cultures using pretreated food waste

In order to enhance bio-hydrogen production from food waste, pretreatment methods are widely used. The influence of the initial pH and autoclaving were investigated in batch experiments. Fermentative studies showed that pure cultures like Clostridium beijerinckii could directly utilize raw food wast...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Hu, Cheng Cheng, Giannis, Apostolos, Chen, Chia-Lung, Wang, Jing-Yuan
Other Authors: School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: 2016
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/80281
http://hdl.handle.net/10220/40469
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Institution: Nanyang Technological University
Language: English
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Summary:In order to enhance bio-hydrogen production from food waste, pretreatment methods are widely used. The influence of the initial pH and autoclaving were investigated in batch experiments. Fermentative studies showed that pure cultures like Clostridium beijerinckii could directly utilize raw food waste to produce hydrogen, while other cultures (Clostridium butyricum and Clostridium pasteurianum) could produce hydrogen only after pH adjustment. In this case, the optimal starting pH of the culture was found to be 7. Autoclaving could further enhance hydrogen yields due to increased hydrolysis of food waste. The maximum hydrogen yield was achieved by C. butyricum (38.9 mL-H2/g-VSadded) after autoclaving food waste with pH adjustment at 7. In addition, the ratio acetic to butyric acid was decreased by autoclaving pretreatment, because butyrate metabolic pathway was favored in the fermentation process. However, suitable pH for bacteria growth and the low ammonia production could be achieved from autoclaving food waste.