Enrichment of a Mixed Culture of Purple Non-Sulfur Bacteria for Hydrogen Production from Organic Acids

Sean C. Smith, Javiera Toledo-Alarcón, María Cristina Schiappacasse and Estela Tapia-Venegas ()
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Sean C. Smith: Escuela de Ingeniería Bioquímica, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Av. Brasil, 2085, Valparaíso 2340025, Chile
Javiera Toledo-Alarcón: Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Av. Padre Hurtado 750, Viña del Mar 2520000, Chile
María Cristina Schiappacasse: Escuela de Ingeniería Bioquímica, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Av. Brasil, 2085, Valparaíso 2340025, Chile
Estela Tapia-Venegas: Departamento de Ciencias de la Ingeniería para la Sostenibilidad, Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad de Playa Ancha, Valparaíso 2500100, Chile

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 24, 1-16

Abstract: Hydrogen (H 2 ) as a clean fuel holds global potential and can be produced through bio-processes. To enhance bioH 2 yields, integrated systems have been proposed, combining dark fermentation (DF) of wastewater with a subsequent photofermentation (PF) stage involving purple non-sulfur (PNS) bacteria. Mixed cultures of PNS bacteria and their microbial ecology have been relatively understudied despite the known benefits of mixed cultures in industrial applications. The aim of this study was to obtain various mixed cultures of PNS bacteria under different environmental conditions during the enrichment stage. Four different mixed cultures were obtained (A, B, C, and D). However, in the H 2 production phase, only Consortium A, which had been enriched with malic acid as the carbon source, exposed to 32 W m −2 of irradiance, and subjected to intermittent agitation, produced H 2 with a yield of 9.37 mmol H 2 g −1 COD. The consortia enriched were a hybrid of PF and DF bacteria. Especially in Consortium A, Rhodopseudomonas palustris was the dominant organism, and various DF bacteria were positively associated with H 2 production, with their dominance comparable to that of PNS bacteria. Despite the reported low yields, optimizing environmental conditions for this culture could potentially enhance hydrogen production from DF effluents.

Keywords: PNS consortium; microbial community selection; bio-hydrogen; bio-H 2 integrated process (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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