HYDROGEN PRODUCTION FROM ORGANIC WASTE USING DEFINED CO-CULTURE OF BACTERIA

摘要

Energy generation through microbes is the challenging and most important area of biotechnologicalrndevelopment, especially where it involves the treatment of organic wastes. Hydrogen production fromrnorganic wastes viz., whey, sago, sugar effluent and distillery waste was studied using different physiologicalrngroups of photo and heterotrophic organisms at laboratory level. Of these, distillery wastes (spentwash),rnRhodopseudomonas palustris (phototrophic bacterium) and Citrobacter freundii (heterotrophic bacterium)rnwere found to be the most suitable for sustainable hydrogen production. The defined co-culture ofrnR. palustris and C. freundii were used for hydrogen production in different scale (1 L to 10,000 L) usingrndistillery waste as a substrate. The maximum hydrogen production at the rate of 1200 L per hour wasrnachieved in 10,000 L reactor. Preliminary attempt was made to utilize the biologically produced hydrogen inrna 250W fuel cell stack of PEM type for power generation. Apart from energy, this process also accomplishesrndrastic reduction of COD up to 65% from the initial.