TY - JOUR
T1 - Simultaneous production and separation of biohydrogen in mixed culture systems by continuous dark fermentation
AU - Ramírez-Morales, Juan E.
AU - Tapia-Venegas, Estela
AU - Toledo-Alarcón, Javiera
AU - Ruiz-Filippi, Gonzalo
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© IWA Publishing 2015.
PY - 2015
Y1 - 2015
N2 - Hydrogen production by dark fermentation is one promising technology. However, there are challenges in improving the performance and efficiency of the process. The important factors that must be considered to obtain a suitable process are the source of the inoculum and its pretreatment, types of substrates, the reactor configurations and the hydrogen partial pressure. Furthermore, to obtain high-quality hydrogen, it is necessary to integrate an effective separation procedure that is compatible with the intrinsic characteristics of a biological process. Recent studies have suggested that a stable and robust process could be established if there was an effective selection of a mixed microbial consortium with metabolic pathways directly targeted to high hydrogen yields. Additionally, the integration of membrane technology for the extraction and separation of the hydrogen produced has advantages for the upgrading step, because this technology could play an important role in reducing the negative effect of the hydrogen partial pressure. Using this technology, it has been possible to implement a production-purification system, the 'hydrogen-extractive membrane bioreactor'. This configuration has great potential for direct applications, such as fuel cells, but studies of new membrane materials, module designs and reactor configurations are required to achieve higher separation efficiencies.
AB - Hydrogen production by dark fermentation is one promising technology. However, there are challenges in improving the performance and efficiency of the process. The important factors that must be considered to obtain a suitable process are the source of the inoculum and its pretreatment, types of substrates, the reactor configurations and the hydrogen partial pressure. Furthermore, to obtain high-quality hydrogen, it is necessary to integrate an effective separation procedure that is compatible with the intrinsic characteristics of a biological process. Recent studies have suggested that a stable and robust process could be established if there was an effective selection of a mixed microbial consortium with metabolic pathways directly targeted to high hydrogen yields. Additionally, the integration of membrane technology for the extraction and separation of the hydrogen produced has advantages for the upgrading step, because this technology could play an important role in reducing the negative effect of the hydrogen partial pressure. Using this technology, it has been possible to implement a production-purification system, the 'hydrogen-extractive membrane bioreactor'. This configuration has great potential for direct applications, such as fuel cells, but studies of new membrane materials, module designs and reactor configurations are required to achieve higher separation efficiencies.
KW - Fermentative hydrogen
KW - Hydrogen separation
KW - Inoculum pre-treatment
KW - Membrane technology
KW - Polymeric membrane
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84929378921&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.2166/wst.2015.104
DO - 10.2166/wst.2015.104
M3 - Article
C2 - 25945842
AN - SCOPUS:84929378921
SN - 0273-1223
VL - 71
SP - 1271
EP - 1285
JO - Water Science and Technology
JF - Water Science and Technology
IS - 9
ER -