2007 Volume 18 Issue 5 Pages 335-343
We investigated the hydrogen production potentials of carbohydrate, protein and lipids through batch experiments at 35°C. We obtained eight different seed microorganisms from a thermophilic acidogenic reactor, a thermophilic anaerobic digester, a soybean silo, an organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW), cattle manure, activated sludge and soil. We used starch, peptone and oil as representative substrates for carbohydrates, proteins and lipids, respectively. Hydrogen production potentials of starch were significant and ranged from 17.8 to 186 mL H2/g starch. Peptone and oil had low hydrogen production potentials. We analyzed the microbial communities after batch experiments using starch by the PCR-DGGE method. We observed typical hydrogen producing bacteria of the genuses Clostridium and Citrobacter in the various kinds of waste biomass, including the OFMSW. This research shows that safety management of unintentional hydrogen production from waste biomass is important.
