LIGHT SPECTRA AND LUMINOSITY INFLUENCE ON PHOTOSYNTHETIC HYDROGEN PRODUCTION BY RHODOBACTER CAPSULATUS

The rates of hydrogen production by B10 and the genetically modified IR3 varieties of the bacterial strain R. capsulatus employing DL-sodium lactate as a carbon source and parts of the visible spectrum light as energy source were compared. The influence of parameters such as: light spectrum (blue, green, red, white light), light luminance (from 2500 to 17000 lux), reactor geometry at and cylindrical), was studied to maximize the bacterial hydrogen production. Maximal results were achieved in-a flat reactor at 700 nm (red light) and 2500 lux light luminance by both varieties, but the hydrogen production obtained by the genetically modified variety IR3 exceeded the B10 production up to 64 % in spite of the superior biomass quantity of the latter. Biotechnol. & Biotechnol. Eq. 2013, 27(1), 3513-3517