Thermophilic Fermentative Biohydrogen Production From Xylan by Anaerobic Mixed Cultures in Elephant Dung

Abstract

Thermophilic bio-hydrogen production from xylan by anaerobic mixed cultures in elephant dung was conducted. The initial pH, temperature, and xylan concentration of 7.0, 55°C and 3.0 g/L, respectively, gave a respective maximum hydrogen yield (HY) and hydrogen production rate (HPR) of 12.16 mmol H₂/g xylan and 61.30 mL H₂/L.d. The optimum conditions were used to produce hydrogen from sugarcane bagasse (SCB) in which an HY of 2.60 mmol H₂/g SCB and a HPR of 59.78 mL H₂/L.d were obtained. The hydrogen producers present in both xylan and SCB fermentation broth were Thermoanaerobacterium thermosaccharolyticum and Clostridium sp.

Keywords:

• Biohydrogen
• Elephant dung
• Thermophilic
• Xylan
• Sugarcane bagasse

Additional information

Funding

The authors appreciate the Ph.D. scholarship to AF from the Office of the Higher Education Commission, Thailand, under the Program Strategic Scholarships for Frontier Research Network for the Joint Thai Ph.D. Program. The authors are grateful for financial support received from the National Research University Project through the Biofuels Research Cluster-Khon Kaen University, Office of the Higher Education Commission.