Assessment of the Hydrogen Production Potential in a Zeolite Assisted Two-Phase Dark and Photo-Fermentation Process from Urban Waste Mixture

Marco Gottardo, Navid Khorramian, Paolo Pavan, Federico Battista, David Bolzonella, Roberto Lauri and Francesco Valentino ()
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Marco Gottardo: Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Via Torino 155, 30172 Venezia-Mestre, Italy
Navid Khorramian: Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Via Torino 155, 30172 Venezia-Mestre, Italy
Paolo Pavan: Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Via Torino 155, 30172 Venezia-Mestre, Italy
Federico Battista: Department of Biotechnology, University of Verona, Strada Le Grazie 15, 37134 Verona, Italy
David Bolzonella: Department of Biotechnology, University of Verona, Strada Le Grazie 15, 37134 Verona, Italy
Roberto Lauri: Istituto Nazionale per l’Assicurazione Contro gli Infortuni sul Lavoro (INAIL), Department of Technological Innovations and Safety of Plants, Products and Human Settlements, Via del Torraccio di Torrenova 7, 00133 Rome, Italy
Francesco Valentino: Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Via Torino 155, 30172 Venezia-Mestre, Italy

Resources, 2025, vol. 14, issue 3, 1-17

Abstract: Waste-based sustainable solutions proposed by scientific and industrial communities for energy production are an approach that can respond to the growing concerns regarding climate change and fossil resources depletion. This study investigates a two-phase bioprocess combining dark fermentation (DF) and photo-fermentation (PF) to enhance hydrogen yield while anaerobically treating urban organic food waste and sewage sludge. A key objective was to assess the effect of waste composition and temperature on hydrogen accumulation, with particular attention to the fermentation product and the role of zeolite in improving process efficiency. In the DF stage, the addition of zeolite significantly enhanced hydrogen production by increasing microbial activity and improving substrate bioavailability. As a result, hydrogen production increased up to 27.3 mmol H 2 /(L d) under thermophilic conditions. After the suspended solids were removed from the dark fermentation broth, a photo-fermentation step driven by a pure strain of Rhodopseudomonas palustris was performed under permanent IR light and different substrate-to-inoculum [S/I] ratios. The maximum hydrogen production rate was 9.33 mmol H 2 /(L d), when R. palustris was inoculated at the lowest [S/I] ratio (<20 COD/COD) and with 0.5 g VSS/L as the initial concentration. This condition in the photo-fermentation process led to an increase in the hydrogen yield up to 35% compared to values obtained from dark fermentation alone.

Keywords: hydrogen; food waste; sewage sludge; dark fermentation; photo-fermentation; purple nonsulfur bacteria (PNSB) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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