High hydrogen production from glycerol or glucose by electrohydrogenesis using microbial electrolysis cells
Type
ArticleKAUST Grant Number
KUS-11-003-13Date
2009-07Permanent link to this record
http://hdl.handle.net/10754/598470
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The use of glycerol for hydrogen gas production was examined via electrohydrogenesis using microbial electrolysis cells (MECs). A hydrogen yield of 3.9 mol-H2/mol was obtained using glycerol, which is higher than that possible by fermentation, at relatively high rates of 2.0 ± 0.4 m3/m3 d (Eap = 0.9 V). Under the same conditions, hydrogen was produced from glucose at a yield of 7.2 mol-H2/mol and a rate of 1.9 ± 0.3 m3/m3 d. Glycerol was completely removed within 6 h, with 56% of the electrons in intermediates (primarily 1,3-propanediol), with the balance converted to current, intracellular storage products or biomass. Glucose was removed within 5 h, but intermediates (mainly propionate) accounted for only 19% of the electrons. Hydrogen was also produced using the glycerol byproduct of biodiesel fuel production at a rate of 0.41 ± 0.1 m3/m3 d. These results demonstrate that electrohydrogenesis is an effective method for producing hydrogen from either pure glycerol or glycerol byproducts of biodiesel fuel production. © 2009 International Association for Hydrogen Energy.Citation
Selembo PA, Perez JM, Lloyd WA, Logan BE (2009) High hydrogen production from glycerol or glucose by electrohydrogenesis using microbial electrolysis cells. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 34: 5373–5381. Available: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2009.05.002.Sponsors
The authors thank S. Cheng, D. Call, E. Lalaurette, D. Jones, J. Chin and P. Cirino for assistance with experiments and analysis and to Nittany Biodiesel for providing glycerol samples from their biodiesel production. This research was supported in part by Award KUS-11-003-13 by King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), the General Electric First-Year Faculty for the Future Fellowship, and the Arthur and Elizabeth Rose Memorial Fellowship.Publisher
Elsevier BVae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1016/j.ijhydene.2009.05.002