M Lenin Babu
India
Research Article
Microbial Electrolysis of Synthetic Acids for Biohydrogen Production: Influence of Biocatalyst Pretreatment and pH with the Function of Applied Potential
Author(s): M Lenin Babu, PN Sarma and S Venkata MohanM Lenin Babu, PN Sarma and S Venkata Mohan
Bioelectrolysis of synthetic acids (acetate, butyrate and propionate) was evaluated in a single chamber Microbial Electrolysis Cell (MEC) to produce biohydrogen (H2). The influence of culture pretreatment (untreated and acid pretreated) and pH (6 and 7) conditions on electrolytic process were studied. MEC was operated at three optimized potentials viz., 0.2, 0.6 and 1.0 V along with control operated without any applied potential. Maximum Hydrogen Production Rate (HPR), Cumulative Hydrogen Production (CHP) and Specific Hydrogen Yield (SHY) were registered at 0.6 V followed by 1.0 and 0.2 V operations under all the experimental conditions studied. Culture pretreatment and pH variation showed influence on the MEC process. Pretreatment (PTr) operation at pH 7 showed good process performance than pH 6. MEC with untreated (UTr) at pH 6 and 7 showed lower performance compared to PTr operatio.. View More»
DOI:
10.4172/1948-5948.S6-003