Optimization and modeling of biohydrogen production by mixed bacterial cultures from raw cassava starch

Abstract

The production of bio-hydrogen from raw cassava starch via a mixed-culture dark fermentation process was investigated. The production yield of H₂ was optimized by adjusting the substrate concentration and the microorganism mixture ratio. A maximum H₂ yield of 1.72 mol H₂/mol glucose was obtained with a cassava starch concentration of 10 g/L to give a 90% utilization rate. The kinetics of the substrate utilization and of the generation of both hydrogen and volatile fatty acids were also investigated. The substrate utilization follows pseudo first order reaction kinetics, whereas the production of both H₂ and the VFAs correlate with the Gompertz equation. These results show that cassava is a good candidate for the production of biohydrogen.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

cassava / biohydrogen / mixed cultures / kinetics

References

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Acknowledgements

The authors express their thanks for the support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 21525625), the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program, Grant No. 2014CB745100), the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (863 Program, Grant No. 2013AA020302).

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