Effect of total solids content on biohydrogen production and lactic acid accumulation during dark fermentation of organic waste biomass

Anish Ghimire; Eric Trably; Luigi Frunzo; Francesco Pirozzi; Piet N L Lens; Giovanni Esposito; Elisabeth A Cazier; Renaud Escudié

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2017.07.062

Effect of total solids content on biohydrogen production and lactic acid accumulation during dark fermentation of organic waste biomass

Bioresour Technol. 2018 Jan;248(Pt A):180-186. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2017.07.062. Epub 2017 Jul 14.

Authors

Anish Ghimire¹, Eric Trably², Luigi Frunzo³, Francesco Pirozzi⁴, Piet N L Lens⁵, Giovanni Esposito⁶, Elisabeth A Cazier², Renaud Escudié²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering, University of Cassino and Southern Lazio, via Di Biasio 43, 03043 Cassino, FR, Italy; Nepal Engineering College, NEC- Center for Postgraduate Studies, G.P.O. Box: 10210, Kathmandu, Nepal(1). Electronic address: anishghimire@gmail.com.
² LBE, INRA, Univ Montpellier, 11100 Narbonne, France.
³ Department of Mathematics and Applications Renato Caccioppoli, University of Naples Federico II, via Cintia, Monte S. Angelo, I-80126 Naples, Italy.
⁴ Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, University of Naples Federico II, via Claudio 21, 80125 Naples, Italy.
⁵ UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education, Westvest 7, 2611 AX Delft, The Netherlands.
⁶ Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering, University of Cassino and Southern Lazio, via Di Biasio 43, 03043 Cassino, FR, Italy.

PMID: 28764910
DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2017.07.062

Abstract

Production of biohydrogen and related metabolic by-products was investigated in Solid State Dark Fermentation (SSDF) of food waste (FW) and wheat straw (WS). The effect of the total solids (TS) content and H₂ partial pressure (pp_H2), two of the main operating factors of SSDF, were investigated. Batch tests with FW at 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30% TS showed considerable effects of the TS on metabolites distribution. H₂ production was strongly inhibited for TS contents higher than 15% with a concomitant accumulation of lactic acid and a decrease in substrate conversion. Varying the pp_H2 had no significant effect on the conversion products and overall degradation of FW and WS, suggesting that pp_H2 was not the main limiting factor in SSDF. This study showed that the conversion of complex substrates by SSDF depends on the substrate type and is limited by the TS content.

Keywords: Biohydrogen; Dark fermentation; Food waste; Lactic acid; Total solids.

MeSH terms

Biomass*
Fermentation*
Food
Hydrogen
Lactic Acid*

Substances

Lactic Acid
Hydrogen