A short-term test for the evaluation of hydrogen and volatile fatty acids production from industrial effluents The use of a short-term test to evaluate organic matter concentration from industrial effluents for the production of hydrogen and volatile fatty acids

A short-term test (time interval < 24 h) is proposed to evaluate the concentration of organic matter from industrial effluents for the production of hydrogen. Organic substrates selected were: protein effluent from a soybean processing plant; glycerol, from the production of biodiesel; Tebuconazole, a fungicide; and glucose, used as a reference substrate. Volatile fatty acids (VFA) and the degree of acidification of each substrate are also determined. After glucose (average hydrogen release of 24.8 mL g COD-1), protein effluent provided the highest hydrogen yield (1.74 mL g COD-1). Acetic and butyric acids presented the highest VFA concentrations. Fermentation of Tebuconazole presented the highest degree of acidification. Some considerations are made about the biological processes involved in hydrogen production. Copyright (C) 2014, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.