Exploring the feasibility of biological hydrogen production using seed sludge pretreated with agro-industrial wastes

Ekwenna, Emeka Boniface; Tabraiz, Shamas; Wang, Yaodong; Roskilly, Anthony

Abstract

The effect of applying agro-industrial waste (AIW), such as potash extract (PE), cassava-steep wastewater (CSWW), and corn-steep liquor (CSTL), as an alternative material to pretreat digested cattle slurry (DCS) for biological hydrogen production was examined. In this study, the pretreated (PT) DCS was employed for H2 fermentation in batch cultures utilising glucose and sucrose as substrates. The result showed that, at 55 °C and pH 5.5, the pretreated DCS's daily volumetric hydrogen production (VHP) was higher than the untreated DCS. Although heat-shocked DCS produced a higher daily VHP of 135 NmL H2 g−1 VS on the second day using glucose as substrates, it is followed by PE-PT DCS, which gave a peak daily VHP of 115 NmL H2 g−1 VS but at a shorter time. When sucrose was the carbon source, the highest peaks were recorded in all the laboratory reactors on day two, with the highest daily VHP of 211 NmL H2 g−1 VS achieved in PE-PT DCS digesters. After the different DCS PT studies, the dominant phylum Firmicutes, represented by the Clostridium and Ruminococcus, were the most abundant bacteria compared to the untreated DCS, which was more diverse. Further research is required to optimise the conditions for AIW DCS pretreatment.

Citation

Ekwenna, E. B., Tabraiz, S., Wang, Y., & Roskilly, A. (2023). Exploring the feasibility of biological hydrogen production using seed sludge pretreated with agro-industrial wastes. Renewable Energy, 215, Article 118934. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2023.118934

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jun 16, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Jun 30, 2023
• Publication Date: Jul 4, 2023
• Deposit Date: Aug 15, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 15, 2023
• Journal: Renewable Energy
• Print ISSN: 0960-1481
• Electronic ISSN: 1879-0682
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 215
• Article Number: 118934
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2023.118934
• Keywords: Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1718464