Evaluation of Biohydrogen Production From Sugarcane Vinasse in an Anaerobic Fluidized Bed Reactor Without Ph Control

Abstract

This study aimed to produce biohydrogen from sugarcane vinasse in an anaerobic fluidized bed reactor operated at ambient temperature (26-35 °C) with a progressive increase of the organic load rate (OLR) (17-155 kg-COD m-3 d-1) and without influent pH control. Hydraulic retention times (HRT) of 12, 6 and 4 h were applied to increase the OLR. The highest hydrogen yield, hydrogen production rate and percentage of hydrogen in the biogas were obtained in the HRT of 4 h, corresponding to the values of 2.40 mol-H2 mol-1-carbohydrate, 0.33 L-H2 h-1 L-1-reactor, and 33%, respectively. The butyric acid fermentative route was favored in the process. The PCR/DGGE analysis showed that the microbial community structure was modified along operational stages and increasing OLR caused an increase in microbial diversity. The results indicate that biohydrogen production from anaerobic digestion of sugarcane vinasse can be achieved with no alkalization pretreatment.

Anaerobic Co-Digestion of Sugarcane Vinasse and Elephant Grass Juice for Biomethan Production

“…The reactors with higher amounts of elephant grass juice probably were adverse for TVS and COD removal. However, the low COD decrease in reactor D (5.39%), containing only vinasse and inoculum, may have occurred due to the high load of organic matter since elevated substrate concentrations can cause kinetic limitations that inhibit the capacity of microorganisms to consume carbohydrates (Gois et al 2021).…”