Abstract
A statistical experimental design was employed to optimize factors that affect the production of hydrogen from the glucose contained in pineapple waste extract by anaerobic mixed cultures. Results from Plackett-Burman design indicated that substrate concentration, initial pH and FeSO4 concentration had a statistically significant (p ≤ 0.05) influence on the hydrogen production potential (Ps) and the specific hydrogen production rate (SHPR). The path of steepest ascent was undertaken to approach the optimal region of these three significant factors which was then optimized using response surface methodology (RSM) with central composite design (CCD). The presence of a substrate concentration of 25.76 g-total sugar/L, initial pH of 5.56, and FeSO4 concentration of 0.81 g/L gave a maximum predicted Ps of 5489 mL H2/L, hydrogen yield of 1.83 mol H2/mol glucose, and SHPR of 77.31 mL H2/g-volatile suspended solid (VSS) h. A verification experiment indicated highly reproducible results with the observed Ps and SHPR being only 1.13% and 1.14% different from the predicted values.
Highlights
Hydrogen is a promising alternative energy carrier and is considered to be a clean energy
The results indicated that the influence of FeSO4 concentration, initial pH, and NaHCO3 concentration were greater at a low level while the influence of Endo–nutrient and substrate concentration were greater at a high level (Table 1)
The biogas compositions were measured by gas chromatography (GC) (GC-2014, Shimadzu, Kyoto, Japan) equipped with a thermal conductivity detector (TCD) and a 2 m stainless column packed with Unibeads C (60/80 mesh)
Summary
Hydrogen is a promising alternative energy carrier and is considered to be a clean energy. It only produces water when combusted with oxygen and has an energy content 2.75 times higher than hydrocarbon fuels [1,2]. The biological hydrogen production process has gained more interest than chemical and physical processes because it is a sustainable process that consumes less energy. Biological hydrogen production can be divided into two types, i.e., a phototrophic process and a dark fermentation process. Dark fermentation has advantages over the phototrophic process in terms of its ability to continuously produce hydrogen from a variety of feedstocks without an external input of energy [3]
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