Enhancement of hydrogen production using untreated inoculum in two stage food waste digestion.
This research investigated the possibility to enhance H2 production using untreated inoculum in a two stage hydrogen methane process from food waste. Batch experiments were conducted to evaluate the H2 production efficiency at different F/M ratios (ranging from 1:1 to 64:1) The results showed that when a proper F/M ratio was selected, significant H2 production was feasible to be achieved even inoculated with untreated anaerobic sludge. Among the F/M ratios studied, maximum H2 yield (217.98 mL H2 g VS 1 FW) was found in the digester at the F/M of 64:1, which was 93.75 times higher than that of the digester at the F/M of 1:1. Higher hydrogen yield was achieved at the greater F/M ratio, due to the enrichment of the H2 producing bacteria and the reduction of the antagonistic bacteria. The two stage process allowed more stable methane production and higher overall energy yield compared to the single stage process.
Bioresource technology