Rapid formation of hydrogen-producing granules in an anaerobic continuous stirred tank reactor induced by acid incubation

Sustainable production of algae-bacteria granular consortia based biological hydrogen: New insights

Microbes recycling nutrient and detoxifying ecosystems are capable to fulfil the future energy need by producing biohydrogen by due to the coupling of autotrophic and heterotrophic microbes. In granules microbes mutualy exchanging nutrients and electrons for hydrogen production. The consortial biohydrogen production depend upon constituent microbes, their interdependence, competition for resources, and other operating parameters while remediating a waste material in nature or bioreactor. The present review deals with development of granular algae-bacteria consortia, hydrogen yield in coculture, important enzymes and possible engineering for improved hydrogen production.

Potential Utilisation of Dark-Fermented Palm Oil Mill Effluent in Continuous Production of Biomethane by Self-Granulated Mixed Culture

Two-stage anaerobic digestion of palm oil mill effluent (POME) is a promising method for converting the waste from the largest agricultural industry in Southeast Asia into a clean and sustainable energy. This study investigates the degradation of acid-rich effluent from the dark fermentation stage for the production of biomethane (BioCH4) in a 30-L continuous stirred-tank reactor (CSTR). The continuous methanogenic process was operated with varied HRTs (10 - 1 day) and OLRs (4.6-40.6 gCOD/L.d-1) under thermophilic conditions. Methanothermobacter sp. was the dominant thermophilic archaea that was responsible for the production rate of 4.3 LCH4/LPOME.d-1 and methane yield of 256.77 LCH4kgCOD at HRT of 2 d, which is the lowest HRT reported in the literature. The process was able to digest 85% and 64% of the initial POME's COD and TSS, respectively. The formation of methane producing granules (MPG) played a pivotal role in sustaining the efficient and productive anaerobic system. We report herein that the anaerobic digestion was not only beneficial in reducing the contaminants in the liquid effluent, but generating BioCH4 gas with a positive net energy gain of 7.6 kJ/gCOD.

Anaerobic granulation: A review of granulation hypotheses, bioreactor designs and emerging green applications

Successful installations and operation of many granulation-base treatment plants all over the world in the recent years are reported. A better knowledge towards reactor operation and system performance has led to a growing interest in the technology. While the technology is well accepted and abundant research work has been carried out, insight unfolding the granulation fundamentals and its engineering applications remains unclear. This paper presents a review of some major hypotheses describing the evolvement of anaerobic granules. A number of physico-chemical hypotheses based on thermodynamics and structural hypotheses incorporating microbial considerations for anaerobic granulation have been developed. Features of anaerobic granulation and bioreactor designs are also reviewed. Advances in granulation research with respect to hydrogen production, degradation of recalcitrant or toxic compounds and emissions mitigation are delineated. Prospects and challenges of anaerobic granulation in wastewater treatment are also outlined.

State of the art and challenges of biohydrogen from microalgae

Biohydrogen from microalgae has attracted extensive attention owing to its promising features of abundance, renewable and self sustainability. Unlike other well-established biofuels like biodiesel and bioethanol, biohydrogen from microalgae is still in the preliminary stage of development. Criticisms in microalgal biohydrogen centered on its practicality and sustainability. Various laboratory- and pilot-scale microalgal systems have been developed, and some research initiatives have exhibited potential for commercial application. This work provides a review of the state of the art of biohydrogen from microalgae. Discussions include metabolic pathways of light-driven transformation and dark fermentation, reactor schemes and system designs encompassing reactor configurations and light manipulation. Challenges, knowledge gaps and the future directions in metabolic limitations, economic and energy assessments, and molecular engineering are also delineated. Current scientific and engineering challenges of microalgal biohydrogen need to be addressed for technology leapfrog or breakthrough.

Comparative evaluation of sludge surface charge as an indicator of process fluctuations in a biogas reactor

The current political situation imposes high demands on the economic feasibility of biogas plants. High prizes for biogas substrates and a trend to reduced feed-in tariffs generated an increasing need to optimize substrate exploitation and operation conditions. This includes a comprehensive and reliable biogas process monitoring. For that purpose a number of different process monitoring methods like CH₄ production rate, FOS/TAC (ratio of organic acid/total inorganic carbon alkalinity), pH or (auto)fluorescence are successfully applied. This paper will evaluate whether the surface charge - a parameter, which has not been in use so far - might also be suitable for biogas process monitoring. Since it is known that the surface charge is correlated with the adherence and floc formation capability of microbial cells, a change in surface charge might also reflect a change in the biogas process efficiency, or vice versa. To test this hypothesis, samples for the investigations were taken from a continuously stirred laboratory-scale tank biogas reactor with continuously increased substrate load. The impact of the load change was measured with both, surface charge and a number of more established monitoring parameters as given above. It was found that the "surface charge" reflected well short-term process changes (within hours) caused by an increasing substrate load in the reactor, though the highest short-term monitoring sensitivity was obtained with the "FOS/TAC" monitoring. Different from other monitoring parameters like CH₄, pH, or FOS/TAC the value of the parameter "surface charge" decreased with every feeding, eventually indicating a continuous deterioration of the biogas process conditions. Surface charge might therefore be of particular use as a complementary tool especially for the long-term monitoring of biogas process conditions.

Hydrogen production from algal biomass - Advances, challenges and prospects

Extensive effort is being made to explore renewable energy in replacing fossil fuels. Biohydrogen is a promising future fuel because of its clean and high energy content. A challenging issue in establishing hydrogen economy is sustainability. Biohydrogen has the potential for renewable biofuel, and could replace current hydrogen production through fossil fuel thermo-chemical processes. A promising source of biohydrogen is conversion from algal biomass, which is abundant, clean and renewable. Unlike other well-developed biofuels such as bioethanol and biodiesel, production of hydrogen from algal biomass is still in the early stage of development. There are a variety of technologies for algal hydrogen production, and some laboratory- and pilot-scale systems have demonstrated a good potential for full-scale implementation. This work presents an elucidation on development in biohydrogen encompassing biological pathways, bioreactor designs and operation and techno-economic evaluation. Challenges and prospects of biohydrogen production are also outlined.

Recovering hydrogen production performance of upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor (UASBR) fed with galactose via repeated heat treatment strategy

This study evaluated the effect of repeated heat treatment towards the enhancement of hydrogen fermentation from galactose in an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor with the hydraulic retention time of 6h and the operation temperature of 37°C. The hydrogen production rate (HPR) and hydrogen yield (HY) gradually increased up to 9.1L/L/d and 1.1mol/mol galactose, respectively, until the 33rd day of operation. When heat treatment at 80°C for 30min was applied, hydrogen production performance was enhanced by 37% with the enrichment of hydrogen producing bacteria population. The HPR and HY were achieved at 12.5L/L/d and 1.5mol/mol hexose, respectively, during further 30 cycles of reactor operation. The repeated heat treatment would be a viable strategy to warrant reliable continuous hydrogen production using mixed culture.

Potential use of coconut shell activated carbon as an immobilisation carrier for high conversion of succinic acid from oil palm frond hydrolysate

Coconut shell activated carbon (CSAC) presented excellent physicochemical characteristics for efficient conversion of oil palm frond (OPF) into succinic acid.

High-rate hydrogen production from galactose in an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor (UASBr)

High-rate hydrogen production from galactose and rapid granule formation were achieved in a mesophilic (37 °C) upflow anaerobic sludge blank reactor (UASBr).

Physicochemical characteristics of attached biofilm on granular activated carbon for thermophilic biohydrogen production

In this study, thermophilic biohydrogen production by a mixed culture, obtained from a continuous acidogenic reactor treating palm oil mill effluent, was improved by using granular activated carbon (GAC) as the support material.

Unconventional approaches to isolation and enrichment of functional microbial consortium--a review

Studies on how different functional strains interact in a microflora may include isolation of pure strains using conventional plating technique and then mix a few of the isolates before observing their growth in specific medium. As isolating pure strains that take part in the key function of industrial effluent purification via conventional method is impractical, convenient alternative approaches to screen essential microbial group that maintains desired function of a mixed population is desired. Such approaches can be employed to allow the selection and enrichment of so-called functional consortium with user-defined attributes for specific functions. This manuscript provides a review of various approaches to isolation and enrichment of microbial functional consortium in several biological processes. Consideration for the isolation and enrichment approaches and their applications are delineated. Challenges to the applications and further work are also outlined.

Hydrogen production from the organic fraction of municipal solid waste in anaerobic thermophilic acidogenesis: influence of organic loading rate and microbial content of the solid waste

Hydrogen production (HP) from the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) under thermophilic acidogenic conditions was studied. The effect of nine different organic loading rates (OLRs) (from 9 to 220 g TVS/l/d) and hydraulic retention times (HRTs) (from 10d to 0.25 d) was investigated. Normally, butyrate was the main acid product. The biogas produced was methane- and sulfide-free at all tested OLR. Increasing the OLR resulted in an increase in both the quantity and quality of hydrogen production, except at the maximum OLR tested (220 g TVS/l/d). The maximum hydrogen content was 57% (v/v) at an OLR of 110 g TVS/l/d (HRT=0.5 d). HP was in the range of 0.1-5.7 l H2/l/d. The results have clearly shown that the increase in OLR was directly correlated with HP and microbial activity. The bacterial concentration inside the reactor is strongly influenced by the content of microorganisms in the OFMSW.

Dark fermentation on biohydrogen production: Pure culture

Biohydrogen is regarded as an attractive future clean energy carrier due to its high energy content and environmental-friendly conversion. While biohydrogen production is still in the early stage of development, there have been a variety of laboratory- and pilot-scale systems developed with promising potential. This work presents a review of literature reports on the pure hydrogen-producers under anaerobic environment. Challenges and perspective of biohydrogen production with pure cultures are also outlined.

Bioreactor design for continuous dark fermentative hydrogen production

Dark fermentative H2 production (DFHP) has received increasing attention in recent years due to its high H2 production rate (HPR) as well as the versatility of the substrates used in the process. For most studies in this field, batch reactors have been applied due to their simple operation and efficient control; however, continuous DFHP operation is necessary from economical and practical points of view. Continuous systems can be classified into two categories, suspended and immobilized bioreactors, according to the life forms of H2 producing bacteria (HPB) used in the reactor. This paper reviews operational parameters for bioreactor design including pH, temperature, hydraulic retention time (HRT), and H2 partial pressure. Also, in this review, various bioreactor configurations and performance parameters including H2 yield (HY), HPR, and specific H2 production rate (SHPR) are evaluated and presented.

Bioreactor and process design for biohydrogen production

Biohydrogen is regarded as an attractive future clean energy carrier due to its high energy content and environmental-friendly conversion. It has the potential for renewable biofuel to replace current hydrogen production which rely heavily on fossil fuels. While biohydrogen production is still in the early stage of development, there have been a variety of laboratory- and pilot-scale systems developed with promising potential. This work presents a review of advances in bioreactor and bioprocess design for biohydrogen production. The state-of-the art of biohydrogen production is discussed emphasizing on production pathways, factors affecting biohydrogen production, as well as bioreactor configuration and operation. Challenges and prospects of biohydrogen production are also outlined.

Physicochemical characteristics of anaerobic H2-producing granular sludge

Granule-based biological H2 production processes are gaining great popularity in recent years. An efficient and stable operating of such systems relies heavily on the performance of the H2-producing granules (HPGs), which possess many unique properties compared with floc sludge and methanogenic granules. Hence, a full understanding of the sludge characteristics is essential. Especially, the physicochemical properties of HPGs may provide useful information for effective evaluation of system status. This review offers a systematical introduction of the physicochemical properties of HPGs, including size, morphology, settling velocity, permeability, rheology, surface charge, hydrophobicity and extracellular polymeric substances (EPS). We also analyze the relationships between these physicochemical factors and the system performance, and discuss the remaining challenges and future implications for sludge characterization and process monitoring. This work may facilitate a better understanding of granule-based biological H2 production processes and offer a basis for timely process monitoring and manipulation.

High-efficiency hydrogen production by an anaerobic, thermophilic enrichment culture from an Icelandic hot spring

Dark fermentative hydrogen production from glucose by a thermophilic culture (33HL), enriched from an Icelandic hot spring sediment sample, was studied in two continuous-flow, completely stirred tank reactors (CSTR1, CSTR2) and in one semi-continuous, anaerobic sequencing batch reactor (ASBR) at 58 degrees C. The 33HL produced H2 yield (HY) of up to 3.2 mol-H2/mol-glucose along with acetate in batch assay. In the CSTR1 with 33HL inoculum, H2 production was unstable. In the ASBR, maintained with 33HL, the H2 production enhanced after the addition of 6 mg/L of FeSO4 x H2O resulting in HY up to 2.51 mol-H2/mol-glucose (H2 production rate (HPR) of 7.85 mmol/h/L). The H2 production increase was associated with an increase in butyrate production. In the CSTR2, with ASBR inoculum and FeSO4 supplementation, stable, high-rate H2 production was obtained with HPR up to 45.8 mmol/h/L (1.1 L/h/L) and HY of 1.54 mol-H2/mol-glucose. The 33HL batch enrichment was dominated by bacterial strains closely affiliated with Thermobrachium celere (99.8-100%). T. celere affiliated strains, however, did not thrive in the three open system bioreactors. Instead, Thermoanaerobacterium aotearoense (98.5-99.6%) affiliated strains, producing H2 along with butyrate and acetate, dominated the reactor cultures. This culture had higher H2 production efficiency (HY and specific HPR) than reported for mesophilic mixed cultures. Further, the thermophilic culture readily formed granules in CSTR and ASBR systems. In summary, the thermophilic culture as characterized by high H2 production efficiency and ready granulation is considered very promising for H2 fermentation from carbohydrates.

A novel application of TPAD-MBR system to the pilot treatment of chemical synthesis-based pharmaceutical wastewater

A pilot-scale test was conducted with a two-phase anaerobic digestion (TPAD) system and a subsequential membrane bioreactor (MBR) treating chemical synthesis-based pharmaceutical wastewater. The TPAD system comprised a continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) and an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket-anaerobic filter (UASBAF), working as the acidogenic and methanogenic phases, respectively. The wastewater was high in COD, varying daily between 5789 and 58,792 mg L(-1), with a wide range of pH from 4.3 to 7.2. The wastewater was pumped at a fixed flow rate of 1m(3)h(-1) through the CSTR, the UASBAF and the MBR in series, resulting in respective HRTs of 12, 55 and 5h. Almost all the COD was removed by the TPAD-MBR system, leaving a COD of around 40 mg L(-1) in the MBR effluent. The pH of the MBR effluent was found in a narrow range of 6.8-7.6, indicating that the MBR effluent can be directly discharged into natural waters. A model, built on the back propagation neural network (BPNN) theory and linear regression techniques, was developed for the simulation of TPAD-MBR system performance in the biodegradation of chemical synthesis-based pharmaceutical wastewater. The model well fitted the laboratory data, and was able to simulate the removal of COD.