anaerobic cultures – a sustainable approach
In phase V (Chapter 9), the effects of OLR, LA, furans and phenols on H2 production from steam exploded corn stover (CS) hydrolysate was examined using cultures at pH 5.0 and a continuous flow reactor operating at 37oC. The study demonstrated the potential of using a CS steam exploded liquor as a feed for H2 production in laboratory-scale UASBRs. The treatability efficiency of a feedstock containing furans and phenols was examined in the study. In addition, a canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) was used to assess the association of microorganisms with fermentation byproducts under different conditions.
1.4 Thesis organization
The thesis is focused on H2 production from lignocellulosics. The research objectives included share a common aim of investigating the effect of process variables on fermentative H2 production. This topic is introduced with a general description of relevant background material and related research findings on using biological methods
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for H2 production followed by a brief note on the dark-fermentation and its associated problems. This introductory framework is followed by a detailed literature review of research findings in this area. The next section provides an overview of the methodology used in the research presented in this thesis, including description of the experimental setup and chemical, analytical, enzymatic and microbial methods employed and a description on data/statistical analysis. The experimental goals were accomplished using glucose followed by using mixed sugars derived from lignocellulosic material (SWG) to feed cultures in UASBR while varying parameters for operating the reactor. Finally, the H2 production potential of steam exploded hydrolysate obtained from lignocellulosic material (corn stover) is presented for a long test run of 80 days with varying sugar loading over the course of the test. The results are presented and discussed in separate chapters for each study, along with the engineering and the genomic data obtained during that particular study. The overall conclusions from these studies are presented with suggestions for future research.
1.5 References
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