Investigation of the links between mass transfer conditions, dissolved hydrogen concentration and biohydrogen production by the pure strain Clostridium butyricum CWBI1009

•Effect of dissolved H2 was studied on H2 production by a pure Clostridium strain.•Different bioreactor configuration and stirring speed were operated.•Supersaturation 7-fold higher than equilibrium condition (Henry’s Law) was recorded.•Liquid–gas transfer of H2 from culture medium to gaseous phase was quantified.•Mass transfer coefficient KLa was correlated with H2 production yields.

Fermentative hydrogen production has often been described as inhibited by its own gas production. In this work, hydrogen production by Clostridium butyricum was investigated in batch Biochemical Hydrogen Potential (BHP) tests and in a 2.5 L anaerobic sequenced batch reactor (AnSBR) under different operating conditions regarding liquid-to-gas mass transfer. Through the addition of both stirring up to 400 rpm and nitrogen sparging, the yields were enhanced from 1.6 to 3.1 molH2 molglucose−1 and the maximum hydrogen production rates from 140 to 278 mL h−1. These original results were achieved with a pure Clostridium strain. They showed that hydrogen production was improved by a higher liquid-to-gas hydrogen transfer resulting in a lower dissolved hydrogen concentration in the culture medium and therefore in a lower bacterial inhibition. In addition, biohydrogen partitioning between the gas and the liquid phase did not conform to Henry’s Law due to critical supersaturation phenomena up to seven-fold higher than the equilibrium conditions. Therefore, dissolved hydrogen concentration should be systematically measured instead of the headspace hydrogen partial pressure. A model was proposed to correlate H2 production yield and rate by the pure C. butyricum strain CWBI1009 with mass transfer coefficient KLa.

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