Fermentative hydrogen production using a real-time fuzzy controller

This work builds a real-time monitoring and control system for bio-hydrogen production fermentation plants using LabVIEW software. The best fermentation environment factors pH and temperature are successfully estimated with stable control ability to create the best hydrogen production environment. The concentrate molasses fermentation waste is as nutrients to hold biomass hydrogen production by dark fermentation in a continuous stirred anaerobic bioreactor, CSABR. In order to verify the applicability of this system, this study compares the proposed anaerobic bioreactor system which's maximum hydrogen production was 3.12 (L/Day) and the system with the fuzzy controller which's hydrogen production rose to 13.44 (L/Day). The result shows that the proposed fuzzy control can not only control feeding pump and heater operations, but also successfully reduce the energy required for hydrogen production, making sure the growth of micro-organisms is in the best environmental conditions for the best growth rate and raise of the maximum hydrogen production.

► This study builds a biomass fermentation hydrogen production fuzzy control system using LabVIEW.
► The fuzzy control system maintains pH value and temperature at a stable rate.
► This system enhances hydrogen production and reduces hydrogen production cost.