Organic fraction of municipal solid wastes (OFMSW, garbage wastes) are known to form hydrogen as a metabolite in an anaerobic degradation process with a microorganism. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of temperature on biological hydrogen formation from the acid formation stage in the anaerobic digestion of the garbage wastes. A batch experiment was conducted in a temperature range of 15-35°C, and continuous experiments were conducted at 25, 30 and 35°C under conditions of pH 6.0 and HRT3) for 12 hrs, using artificially prepared garbage wastes assuming the composition of the garbage wastes actually dis-charged as a substrate for the reaction. As a result, a maximal rate of hydrogen formation is obtained (1570 ml /L /day), together with the drastically lowered formation of methane at 30°C. Therefore, it was suggested that the amount of hydrogen formation can be increased, with suppressing hydrogen consumption by methane-forming bacteria because the activity of the methane-forming bacteria is lowered due to control of the culture temperature.
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