Impact of furan derivatives and phenolic compounds on hydrogen production from organic fraction of municipal solid waste using co-culture of Enterobacter aerogenes and E. coli

• Published in: Bioresource technology 2017-09, Vol.239, p.49-56
• Main Authors: Sharma, Preeti, Melkania, Uma
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural; anaerobes; Anaerobiosis; Bioreactors; coculture; Coculture Techniques; Enterobacter aerogenes; Escherichia coli; Furans; Furfural; Hydrogen; Hydrogen production; hydroxymethylfurfural; municipal solid waste; Organic fraction of municipal solid waste; Solid Waste; Syringaldehyde; technology; Vanillin; volatile fatty acids
• ISSN: 0960-8524; 1873-2976
• DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2017.04.113

•Co-culture of Enterobacter aerogenes and E. coli was used in the study.•Hydrogen production was inhibited by addition of furan derivatives and phenolic compounds.•Phenolic compounds exhibited more inhibition on hydrogen production than furan derivatives.•Phenolic compounds were degraded more efficiently as compare to furan derivatives. In the present study, the effect of furan derivatives (furfural and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural) and phenolic compounds (vanillin and syringaldehyde) on hydrogen production from organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) was investigated using co-culture of facultative anaerobes Enterobacter aerogenes and E. coli. The inhibitors were applied in the concentration ranges of 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2 and 5g/L each. Inhibition coefficients of phenolic compounds were higher than those of furan derivatives and vanillin exhibited maximum inhibition coefficients correspondingly lowest hydrogen yield among all inhibitors. Furfural and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural addition resulted in an average decrease of 26.99% and 37.16% in hydrogen yield respectively, while vanillin and syringaldehyde resulted in 49.40% and 42.26% average decrease in hydrogen yield respectively. Further analysis revealed that Furfural and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural were completely degraded up to concentrations of 1g/L, while vanillin and syringaldehyde were degraded completely up to the concentration of 0.5g/L. Volatile fatty acid generation decreased with inhibitors addition.