Various treatment methods for enhanced bio-hydrogen production

Abstract

World is focused on renewable and cleaner fuels like hydrogen. However, their extraction through conventional methods generates heavy pollution. Biological hydrogen production (bio-hydrogen) is a cleaner process that reduces pollution. Organic compounds like biomass and cow dung are fed in anaerobic digestion which solves raw material availability and waste management problems. This paper reviews the working of anaerobic digestion using organic compounds for bio-hydrogen production and various methods implemented to enhance the hydrogen yield. Physical methods like heat pre-treatment, ultraviolet, ultrasonication and aeration, and chemical methods like pH pre-treatment and chemical addition are briefly discussed in earlier published works. Heat pre-treatment, ultrasonication, pH pre-treatment and chemical addition show a drastic improvement in hydrogen concentration, while aeration and ultraviolet pre-treatment show slight improvement. Hence, the review suggests that both physical and chemical methods can be implemented simultaneously for better results.Therefore, the various treatment methods can be utilized in the anaerobic digestion process for improved hydrogen production.