Effect of Mixing Intensity on Bio-Hydrogen Yield Through Photo-Fermentation by Photosynthetic Bacteria HAU-M1

Internal flow condition of the fermentation liquor has a significant influence on mass transfer and hydrogen yield. The effect of mixing intensity on hydrogen production through photo-fermentation was investigated. Corn stover was used as substrate in this study. Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation technology was conducted to evaluate the bio-hydrogen yield and the effect of mixing intensity on cumulative hydrogen yield, reducing sugar concentration, pH value and liquid metabolites distributions were studied. The results showed that the maximum hydrogen yield of 62.00 mL/g VS and hydrogen production rate of 0.97 mL/(g . h) VS were obtained under mixing intensity of 150 rpm, and its major metabolites were ethanol and butyric acid. With further increasing the mixing intensity, the hydrogen yield and concentration decreased significantly. In addition, Kinetic analysis showed that the experimental data fitted well to the modified Gompertz model.