Title: Biological hydrogen production: effects of inoculation and production media

Authors: Baran Ozyurt; Zeynep Yilmazer Hitit; Suna Ertunc; Hale Hapoglu; Bulent Akay; Gamze Firat Demirtas

Addresses: Faculty of Engineering, Chemical Engineering Department, Ankara University, 06100 Ankara, Turkey ' Faculty of Engineering, Chemical Engineering Department, Ankara University, 06100 Ankara, Turkey ' Faculty of Engineering, Chemical Engineering Department, Ankara University, 06100 Ankara, Turkey ' Faculty of Engineering, Chemical Engineering Department, Ankara University, 06100 Ankara, Turkey ' Faculty of Engineering, Chemical Engineering Department, Ankara University, 06100 Ankara, Turkey ' Kale Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Engine Industries, ESBAS Aegean Free Zone, Bahar St No: D22A Gaziemir, 35410 Izmir, Turkey

Abstract: In this work inoculation media are selected as potato, glycerine and milk to investigate the best storage condition that is important to maintain microorganism activity and stable hydrogen production performance. Cheese whey, potato and enriched potato (with additional glucose and CaCO₃) are used as the production media and their hydrogen production results are compared in order to determine the best biohydrogen production media. Batch growth of anaerobic Clostridium butyricum for biohydrogen production is performed in 500 ml screw-capped bottles at 28°C. It is noted that both the inoculation and the production media are highly effective on hydrogen production. Results show that the highest hydrogen production yield is obtained as 50.50 ml H₂/g COD using milk as inoculation medium and enriched potato as production medium. Another important production factor is the production rate and when the results of three different inoculation media are compared for different production media, milk inoculation and enriched potato production media give the highest results as 41.9291 mL/L.h.

Keywords: biohydrogen; Clostridium butyricum; inoculation; cheese whey; global warming; dark fermentation; clean energy; biological hydrogen production; production media; enriched potato; glycerine; milk; storage conditions; microorganisms.

DOI: 10.1504/IJGW.2014.061036

International Journal of Global Warming, 2014 Vol.6 No.2/3, pp.350 - 365

Received: 10 Oct 2012
Accepted: 11 Jul 2013
Published online: 02 Jul 2014 *

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