Mathematical modelling and optimization of hydrogen continuous production in a fixed bed bioreactor

The purpose of this paper is to investigate, both theoretically and experimentally, hydrogen production from agro-industrial by-products using a continuous bioreactor packed with a mixture of spongy and glass beads and inoculated with Enterobacter aerogenes. Replicated series of experimental runs were performed to study the effects of residence time on hydrogen evolution rate and to characterize the critical conditions for the wash out, as a function of the inlet glucose concentration and of the fluid superficial velocity. A further series of experimental runs was focused on the effects of both residence time and inlet glucose concentration over hydrogen productivity. A kinetic model of the process was developed and showed good agreement with experimental data, thus representing a potential tool to design a large-scale fermenter. In fact, the model was applied to the optimal design of a bioreactor suitable of feeding a phosphoric acid fuel cell of a target power.

[1]  Bruno Fabiano,et al.  Experimental study of hydrogen kinetics from agroindustrial by-product: Optimal conditions for production and fuel cell feeding , 1998 .

[2]  Naoki Mizukami,et al.  Isolation of a hydrogen-producing bacterium, Clostridium beijerinckii strain AM21B, from termites , 1993 .

[3]  R. M. Almeida,et al.  The dead core model applied to beads with immobilized cells in a fed-batch cephalosporin C production bioprocess , 2001 .

[4]  Jayant M. Modak,et al.  Optimization of fed-batch bioreactor for immobilized enzyme processes , 2001 .

[5]  W Verstraete,et al.  Conversion of organic acids to h2 by Rhodospirillaceae grown with glutamate or dinitrogen as nitrogen source , 1983, Biotechnology and bioengineering.

[6]  Shigeharu Tanisho,et al.  Fermentative hydrogen evolution by Enterobacter aerogenes strain E.82005 , 1987 .

[7]  D. Hall,et al.  H(2) photoproduction by batch culture of Anabaena variabilis ATCC 29413 and its mutant PK84 in a photobioreactor. , 1999, Biotechnology and bioengineering.

[8]  R. Thauer.  LIMITATION OF MICROBIAL H2-FORMATION VIA FERMENTATION , 1977 .

[9]  Fumiaki Taguchi,et al.  Efficient hydrogen production from starch by a bacterium isolated from termites , 1992 .

[10]  D. Madamwar,et al.  Continuous hydrogen evolution by an immobilized combined system of Phormidium valderianum, Halobacterium halobium and Escherichia coli in a packed bed reactor , 1995 .

[11]  Bruno Fabiano,et al.  Process development of continuous hydrogen production by Enterobacter aerogenes in a packed column reactor , 2000 .

[12]  K. Sasikala,et al.  Photoproduction of hydrogen from the waste water of a distillery by Rhodobacter sphaeroides O.U. 001 , 1992 .

[13]  A. Mitsui,et al.  Characterization and optimization of hydrogen photoproduction by a saltwater blue-green alga, Oscillatoria sp. Miami BG7. I. Enhancement through limiting the supply of nitrogen nutrients , 1981 .

[14]  N. Kamiya,et al.  Hydrogen evolution of Enterobacter aerogenes depending on culture pH: mechanism of hydrogen evolution from NADH by means of membrane-bound hydrogenase. , 1989, Biochimica et biophysica acta.

[15]  Shigeharu Tanisho,et al.  Continuous hydrogen production from molasses by fermentation using urethane foam as a support of flocks , 1995 .

[16]  P. Vos,et al.  The effect of temperature and light intensity on hydrogen gas production by different Rhodopseudomonas capsulata strains , 1984, Biotechnology Letters.

[17]  Debabrata Das,et al.  Continuous hydrogen production by immobilized Enterobacter cloacae IIT-BT 08 using lignocellulosic materials as solid matrices. , 2001 .

[18]  J. Miyake,et al.  Efficiency of light energy conversion to hydrogen by the photosynthetic bacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroides , 1987 .

[19]  N. Nishio,et al.  Hydrogen production with high yield and high evolution rate by self-flocculated cells of Enterobacter aerogenes in a packed-bed reactor , 1998, Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology.

[20]  J. Brosseau,et al.  Hydrogen-gas Production with Citrobacter intermedius and Clostridium pasteurianum. , 1982 .