Photosynthetic biohydrogen production in a wastewater environment and its potential as renewable energy

• Published in: Energy (Oxford) 2018-04, Vol.149, p.222-229
• Main Authors: Hwang, Jae-Hoon, Church, Jared, Lim, Jaewon, Lee, Woo Hyoung
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acetic acid; Algae; Alternative energy; Anaerobic treatment; Biohydrogen; Biohydrogen production; Butyric acid; Chemical evolution; Chlorella; Depletion; Deprivation; Environmental regulations; Fatty acids; Gene expression; Hydrogen; Hydrogenase; Membrane reactors; mRNA; Oxidation; Oxygen; Oxygen depletion; Oxygen regulation; Oxygen regulators; Photo-algal hydrogen; Photosynthesis; Photosystem II; Renewable energy; Sulfur; Volatile fatty acids; Volatile fatty acids (VFAs); Wastewater treatment; Water treatment
• ISSN: 0360-5442; 1873-6785
• DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2018.02.051

Oxygen (O2) is a strong inhibitor of hydrogenase (HydA) activity and expression and altering the sulfur (S) oxidizing transitions in photosystem II (PSII) often allows algal photohydrogen production; however, this may not be practical in a wastewater environment. To counteract natural mechanisms of oxygen evolution in PSII, we utilized acetic acid and butyric acid, which are main volatile fatty acids (VFAs) found in anaerobic bacterial digestion in wastewater treatment, as oxygen regulators for photosynthetic biohydrogen production using Chlorella vulgaris. It was found that a VFA-containing synthetic wastewater promotes oxygen depletion in a photobioreactor (PBR), producing maximum hydrogen yield of 65.4 ± 0.3 μmoL H2 L−1 mM−1 acetate without artificial sulfur or chloride deprivation. Butyric acids showed no significant effect on oxygen depletion and biohydrogen production in the PBR. The measurements of both relative expression level of mRNA and specific activities of reactivate HydA revealed that repetitive algal H2 photo-evolution was possible by HydA synthesis in C. vulgaris followed by complete oxygen depletion controlled by acetic acid levels in the PBR. This emerging understanding of the role of VFAs on oxygen regulation in PSII in natural environments is expected to lead algal-driven bioenergy production technologies to the next level. •Oxygen is a strong inhibitor of hydrogenase (HydA) activity in algal metabolism.•VFA from wastewater can control oxygen deprivation for microalgal hydrogen production.•Repetitive algal H2 photo-evolution was feasible by HydA synthesis in C. vulgaris.•VFA-rich wastewater is a good candidate for biophotolysis.