Hydrogen photoproduction by Rhodopseudomonas palustris 42OL cultured at high irradiance under a semicontinuous regime.
The main goal of this study was to increase the hydrogen production rate improving the culture technique and the photobioreactor performances. Experiments were carried out at a constant culture temperature of 30°C and at an average irradiance of 480 W m(-2) using a cylindrical photobioreactor (4.0 cm, internal diameter). The culture technique, namely, the semicontinuous regime for growing Rhodopseudomonas palustris 42OL made it possible to achieve a very high daily hydrogen production rate of 594 ± 61 mL (H(2)) L(-1) d(-1). This value, never reported for this strain, corresponds to about 25 mL (H(2)) L(-1) h(-1), and it was obtained when the hydraulic retention time (HRT) was of 225 hours. Under the same growth conditions, a very high biomass production rate (496 ± 45 mg (dw) L(-1) d(-1)) was also achieved. Higher or lower HRTs caused a reduction in both the hydrogen and the biomass production rates. The malic-acid removal efficiency (MA(re)) was always higher than 90%. The maximal hydrogen yield was 3.03 mol H(2) mol MA(-1) at the HRT of 360 hours. The highest total energy conversion efficiency was achieved at the HRT of 225 hours.
Istituto per lo Studio degli Ecosistemi, Sede di Firenze, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Polo Scientifico, Via Madonna del Piano n. 10, Sesto Fiorentino, Florence, Italy. p.carlozzi@ise.cnr.it
Pietro
P
Carlozzi
D001429:Bacteriochlorophylls / Q000378:metabolism; D018533:Biomass; D006859:Hydrogen / Q000378:metabolism*; D008027:Light; D045342:Light-Harvesting Protein Complexes / Q000378:metabolism; D018462:Photobiology / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D058433:Photobioreactors / Q000382:microbiology; D012241:Rhodopseudomonas / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000528:radiation effects*; D013696:Temperature; D013997:Time Factors
D001429:Bacteriochlorophylls; D045342:Light-Harvesting Protein Complexes; D006859:Hydrogen