Feasibility of semi-pilot scale up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket fixed-film reactor for fermentative bio-hydrogen production from palm oil mill effluent

Abstract

The present study focuses on bio-hydrogen production using palm oil mill effluent (POME) at a semi-pilot scale of an “up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket fixed-film (UASFF) reactor”. The reactor was operated in the palm oil mill industry for over 180 days of operation at ambient temperature through dark fermentation process with different organic loading rates (OLR) of 22–36 g-COD/l.d, depending on the COD concentration of POME. By acclimatizing the sludge, the semi-pilot scale UASFF reactor achieved hydrogen content, and hydrogen production rate (HPR) of 20%–68%, and 12 L H2/d to 39 L H2/d, respectively with a maximum COD removal of 35%. Moreover, from high through pyrosequencing analysis, hydrogen fermentation was attributed to Clostridium sensu stricto, Lactobacillus, and thermoanaerobium spp. This study offers an extensive approach to developing a semi-pilot scale bio-hydrogen production and, provides further prospects for profitable exploitation which could be a promising approach for reaching sustainability and economic feasibility (using wastewater as a low-cost feedstock) in commercial applications for future studies.