Investigation of the effect of culture type on biological hydrogen production from sugar industry wastes

The bio-hydrogen generation potential of sugar industry wastes was investigated. In the first part of the study, acidogenic anaerobic culture was enriched from the mixed anaerobic culture (MAC) through acidification of glucose. In the second part of the study, glucose acclimated acidogenic seed was used, along with the indigenous microorganisms, MAC, 2-bromoethanesulfonate treated MAC and heat treated MAC. Two different COD levels (4.5 and 30 g/L COD) were investigated for each culture type. Reactors with initial COD concentration of 4.5 g/L had higher H2 yields (20.3–87.7 mL H2/g COD) than the reactors with initial COD concentration of 30 g/L (0.9–16.6 mL H2/g COD). The 2-bromoethanesulfonate and heat treatment of MAC inhibited the methanogenic activity, but did not increase the H2 production yield. The maximum H2 production (87.7 mL H2/g COD) and minimum methanogenic activity were observed in the unseeded reactor with 4.5 g/L of initial COD.