Biohydrogen reactors

Figure 2.37. Attenuation of solar radiation as a function of penetration into a biohydrogen reactor containing partly modified cultures of Rho-dobacter spheroides. Reprinted from J. Miyake, M. Miyake, Y. Asada (1999). Biotechnological hydrogen production research for efficient light energy conversion. Journal of Biotechnology 70, 89-101, with permission from Elsevier.

Figure 4. Developments of cumulative hydrogen yield, pH value, volatile fatty acids (VFAs) and alcohols in the batch reactor during the conversion of the substrate to biohydrogen under the pretreated condition of microwave heating...

Chang, F. Y., and Lin, C. Y. 2004. Biohydrogen production using an up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor. Int. J. Hydrogen Energy, 29, 33-39. 

Khanal, S. K., Chen, W. H., Li, L., and Sung, S. 2006. Biohydrogen production in continuous flow reactor using mixed microbial culture. Water Environ. Res., 78 (2), 110-117. 

Castello, E., y Santos, C. G., Igleasias, T., Paulino, G., Wenzel, J., Borzacconi, L. (2009). Feasibility of biohydrogen production form cheese whey using a UASB reactor links between microbial community and reactor performance. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 34, 5674-5682. 

Biohydrogen photo-bioreactors have been thoroughly analysed and revised for both microalgae (Posten, 2009) and photo-fermentative bacteria (Koku et al., 2003) cultivation. For a first rough classification, photo-fermentation can be lead out in batch or in continuous reactors, with the choice being determined by feed rate and type and biomass. 

Dark fermentation presents many advantages with respect to photo-fermentation. Reactor design is not affected by light supply thus, dark bioreactors exploit volume more efficiendy, and oxygen removal is no more a problem when the anaerobic conditions are chosen. Consequendy, dark bioreactors are the main focus of research to develop a reliable, industrial-scale system to produce biohydrogen (Levin, Pitt, Love, 2004). 

The main factors limiting the applications are pH and product inhibition along with the formation of side products, further reducing the hydrogen yield and productivity. For this reason, the reactor design should accomplish the requirements of a careful control of reaction conditions and scalability with feed rate and composition. These features are mandatory to promote the economical, yet environmental, sustainability of biohydrogen production (Levin Chahine, 2010). 

Fig. 6.23 (A) Schematic of a biohydrogen MFC (HMFC) where hydrogen is produced by fermentation in one vessel and is then used for electricity generation in a second reactor. [From Schroder et al. (2003), copyright Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH Co. KGaA, reproduced with permission.] (B) Photobiological HMFCs examined for electricity production by Rosenbaum et al. (2005). (C) Another reactor tested by this group for electricity production (Logan et al. 2006). (Reprinted with permission of the American Chemical Society.)...

Fig. 12.1 Power production reported since 1999 for MFCs using oxygen at the cathode. Not included are biohydrogen MFCs or reactors with sacrificial anodes, or data from systems using chemical catholytes such as ferricyanide or permanganate. [Adapted from Logan and Regan (2006a).]...

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