Fermentative bio-hydrogen production from cellulose by cow dung compost enriched cultures

The performance of hydrogen production from cellulose by the cow dung compost enriched continuously in defined medium containing cellulose was investigated. In the initial experiments, batch-fermentation was carried out to observe the effects of different substrate concentration conditions on the rate of cellulose-degrading, growth of bacteria and the capability of hydrogen-producing from cellulose. The result showed that the cellulose degradation decreased from 55% at 5 g/l to 22% at 30 g/l. The maximum cumulative hydrogen production and the rate of hydrogen production first increased from 828 ml/l at 5 g/l to 1251 ml/l at 10 g/l then remained constant beyond 10 g/l. The maximum hydrogen production potential, the rate of hydrogen production and the yield of hydrogen was 1525 ml/l, 33 ml/l.h, and 272 ml/g-cellulose (2.09 mol/mol-hexose) was obtained at substrate concentration 10 g/l, the hydrogen concentration in biogas was 47–50%(v/v) and there was no methane observed. During the conversion of cellulose into hydrogen, acetate and butyrate were main liquid end-products in the metabolism of hydrogen fermentation. These results proposed that cow dung compost enriched cultures were ideal microflora for hydrogen production from cellulose.