Fermentative hydrogen production from pretreated biomass: A comparative study

• Published in: Bioresource technology 2009-12, Vol.100 (24), p.6331-6338
• Main Authors: Panagiotopoulos, I.A., Bakker, R.R., Budde, M.A.W., de Vrije, T., Claassen, P.A.M., Koukios, E.G.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acetates - metabolism; acid treatment; Agricultural residues; Agronomy. Soil science and plant productions; Bacteria - growth & development; barley straw; Beta vulgaris - metabolism; biogas; Biological and medical sciences; Biomass; Biotechnology; Caldicellulosiruptor; Caldicellulosiruptor saccharolyticus; Carbohydrates - biosynthesis; cellulose; corn stover; Culture Media; dilute-acid pretreatment; enzymatic hydrolysis; ethanol; extreme thermophile; Fermentability; Fermentation; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General agronomy. Plant production; Hordeum - metabolism; Hordeum vulgare; Hydrogen - metabolism; hydrogen production; hydrolysates; Hydrolysis; Inhibition; Lactic Acid - biosynthesis; lignin; Lignin - metabolism; lignocellulose; Methods. Procedures. Technologies; Microbial engineering. Fermentation and microbial culture technology; plant residues; raw materials; renewable energy sources; saccharification; starch; Starch - metabolism; straw; sugar; sugar beet; Sugar yield; Use of agricultural and forest wastes. Biomass use, bioconversion; Zea mays - metabolism
• ISSN: 0960-8524; 1873-2976
• DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2009.07.011

The aim of this work was to evaluate the potential of employing biomass resources from different origin as feedstocks for fermentative hydrogen production. Mild-acid pretreated and hydrolysed barley straw (BS) and corn stalk (CS), hydrolysed barley grains (BG) and corn grains (CG), and sugar beet extract (SB) were comparatively evaluated for fermentative hydrogen production. Pretreatments and/or enzymatic hydrolysis led to 27, 37, 56, 74 and 45 g soluble sugars/100 g dry BS, CS, BG, CG and SB, respectively. A rapid test was applied to evaluate the fermentability of the hydrolysates and SB extract. The thermophilic bacterium Caldicellulosiruptor saccharolyticus showed high hydrogen production on hydrolysates of mild-acid pretreated BS, hydrolysates of BG and CG, and SB extract. Mild-acid pretreated CS showed limited fermentability, which was partially due to inhibitory products released in the hydrolysates, implying the need for the employment of a milder pretreatment method. The difference in the fermentability of BS and CS is in strong contrast to the similarity of the composition of these two feedstocks. The importance of performing fermentability tests to determine the suitability of a feedstock for hydrogen production was confirmed.