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Biohydrogen Production Technologies and Application

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A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "A5: Hydrogen Energy".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2020) | Viewed by 13140

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Muhammad Aziz

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Guest Editor

Department of Mechanical and Biofunctional Systems, Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo, 4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8505, Japan
Interests: energy systems; process design; power generation; carbon capture and storage; hydrogen production; renewable energy; energy conservation; energy and exergy analysis; exergy recovery; electric vehicle; batteries; smart grid
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Hydrogen has potential as a secondary energy source in the future, due to its cleanliness, numerous technological routes for its production and utilization, high gravimetric energy density, and high efficiency. Therefore, studies dealing with hydrogen production, storage, transportation, and utilization are much needed.

The current Special Issue covers numerous aspects, especially related to hydrogen production from bio-resources (including biomasses and wastes), hydrogen storage and transportation, and hydrogen utilization. It is not only limited to technological study but also covers hydrogen economy, policy, and society. The main goal of this Special Issue is to collect and report advanced studies toward the realization of the hydrogen community and its sustainability, especially utilizing bio-resources. Therefore, state-of-the-art and original research (both numerical and experimental), reviews on recent developments, and technical reports related to this field are highly welcomed.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Muhammad Aziz
Guest Editor

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Keywords

biological process (fermentation, photobiological, microbial electrolysis, etc.)
biochemical hydrogen production
thermochemical conversion (gasification, chemical loping, etc.)
other hydrogen production technologies (electrochemical, photochemical, etc.)
biomass utilization
waste utilization (industrial, agricultural, etc.)
hydrogen enrichment
hydrogen purification, and separation: membrane, PSA, cryogenic, etc.
hydrogen storage and transportation (LOHC, hydrides, compressed gas, liquid, ammonia, etc.)
catalyst
pre-treatment technologies
hydrogen utilization
hydrogen to other fuels (methane, methanol, etc.)
microbial fuel cell
power generation
hydrogen combustion
process modelling
energy efficiency
hydrogen economy
hydrogen society
hydrogen policy

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 3276 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Evaluation of the Two-Stage Fermentative Hydrogen Production from Sugar Beet Molasses

by Robert Grabarczyk, Krzysztof Urbaniec, Jacek Wernik and Marian Trafczynski

Energies 2019, 12(21), 4090; https://doi.org/10.3390/en12214090 - 26 Oct 2019

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2733

Abstract

Fermentative hydrogen production from molasses—a renewable by-product of beet-sugar processing—was considered. Technical and economic evaluations were performed of a stand-alone production plant employing a two-step fermentation process (dark thermophilic fermentation and photofermentation) followed by an adsorption-based upgrading of the produced hydrogen gas. Using a state-of-the-art knowledge base and a mathematical model composed of mass and energy balances, as well as economic relationships, the process was simulated and equipment data were estimated, the hydrogen cost was calculated and a sensibility analysis was carried out. Due to high capital, operating and labor costs, hydrogen production cost was estimated at a rather high level of 32.68 EUR/kg, while the energy output in produced hydrogen was determined as 68% more than the combined input of the thermal and electric energy needed for plant operation. As the room for improvement of plant performance is limited, a perspective on the cost competitiveness of large-scale hydrogen production from fossil sources is unclear. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biohydrogen Production Technologies and Application)

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15 pages, 1192 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Improvement of Digestate Stability Using Dark Fermentation and Anaerobic Digestion Processes

by Elena Albini, Isabella Pecorini and Giovanni Ferrara

Energies 2019, 12(18), 3552; https://doi.org/10.3390/en12183552 - 17 Sep 2019

Cited by 18 | Viewed by 2804

Abstract

This paper assessed the effect of dark fermentation, the fermentative phase in a two-stage anaerobic digestion system, in terms of digestate biostabilization efficiency. The digestates analyzed in this study were obtained from a pilot-scale system in which two different substrates were used in order to simulate both the digestion and co-digestion process. Biostabilization performances were evaluated by measuring the specific oxygen uptake rate (SOUR) of the outgoing digestates. This index allowed us to define the degree of effectiveness in terms of stabilization of organic matter, between the traditional anaerobic digestion process and the two-stage configuration. Considering the traditional process as a reference scenario, the results highlighted an increase in biological stability for the two-stage co-digestion process, consisting of a dark fermentation stage, followed by an anaerobic digestion one. Digestates biostabilization efficiency increased up from 6.5% to 40.6% from the traditional one-stage configuration to the two-stage one by improving the anaerobic digestion process through a preliminary fermentative stage. The advantages of the two-stage process were due to the role of dark fermentation as a biological pre-treatment. Considering the partial stability results related to the second stage, biological stability was improved in comparison to a single-stage process, reaching an efficiency of 42.2% and 55.8% for the digestion and co-digestion scenario respectively. The dark fermentation phase allowed for a higher hydrolysis of the substrate, making it more easily degradable in the second phase. Results demonstrated better biostabilization performances of the outgoing digestates with the introduction of dark fermentation, resulting in more stable digestates for both the digestion and co-digestion process. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biohydrogen Production Technologies and Application)

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14 pages, 1350 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Optimization of Batch Dark Fermentation of Chlorella sp. Using Mixed-Cultures for Simultaneous Hydrogen and Butyric Acid Production

by Nikannapas Usmanbaha, Rattana Jariyaboon, Alissara Reungsang, Prawit Kongjan and Chen-Yeon Chu

Energies 2019, 12(13), 2529; https://doi.org/10.3390/en12132529 - 01 Jul 2019

Cited by 26 | Viewed by 3209

Abstract

This paper reports on the optimum conditions for simultaneous hydrogen and butyric acid production from microalgae (Chlorella sp.) using enriched anaerobic mixed cultures as inoculum. The fermentation was objectively carried out under acidogenic conditions to achieve butyric acid for further ABE fermentation in solventogenesis stage. The main effects of initial pH (5 and 7), temperature (35 °C and 55 °C), and substrate concentration (40, 60, 80, and 100 g-VS/L) for hydrogen and butyric acid production were evaluated by using batch fermentation experiment. The major effects on hydrogen and butyric acid production are pH and temperature. The highest production of hydrogen and butyric acid was observed at pH 7 and temperature 35 °C. Using initial Chlorella sp. concentration of 80 g-VS/L or 100 g-VS/L at pH 7 and temperature 35 °C could produce hydrogen with an average yield of 22 mL-H₂/g-VS along with high butyric acid production yield of 0.05 g/g-VS, suggesting that microalgae (Chlorella sp.) has potential to be converted directly to butyric acid by using acidogenesis under above optimum conditions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biohydrogen Production Technologies and Application)

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Review

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27 pages, 11485 KiB

Open AccessReview

A Review of Biohydrogen Productions from Lignocellulosic Precursor via Dark Fermentation: Perspective on Hydrolysate Composition and Electron-Equivalent Balance

by Yiyang Liu, Jingluo Min, Xingyu Feng, Yue He, Jinze Liu, Yixiao Wang, Jun He, Hainam Do, Valérie Sage, Gang Yang and Yong Sun

Energies 2020, 13(10), 2451; https://doi.org/10.3390/en13102451 - 13 May 2020

Cited by 21 | Viewed by 3451

Abstract

This paper reviews the current technological development of bio-hydrogen (BioH₂) generation, focusing on using lignocellulosic feedstock via dark fermentation (DF). Using the collected reference reports as the training data set, supervised machine learning via the constructed artificial neuron networks (ANNs) imbedded with feed backward propagation and one cross-out validation approach was deployed to establish correlations between the carbon sources (glucose and xylose) together with the inhibitors (acetate and other inhibitors, such as furfural and aromatic compounds), hydrogen yield (HY), and hydrogen evolution rate (HER) from reported works. Through the statistical analysis, the concentrations variations of glucose (F-value = 0.0027) and acetate (F-value = 0.0028) were found to be statistically significant among the investigated parameters to HY and HER. Manipulating the ratio of glucose to acetate at an optimal range (approximate in 14:1) will effectively improve the BioH₂ generation (HY and HER) regardless of microbial strains inoculated. Comparative studies were also carried out on the evolutions of electron equivalent balances using lignocellulosic biomass as substrates for BioH₂ production across different reported works. The larger electron sinks in the acetate is found to be appreciably related to the higher HY and HER. To maintain a relative higher level of the BioH₂ production, the biosynthesis needs to be kept over 30% in batch cultivation, while the biosynthesis can be kept at a low level (2%) in the continuous operation among the investigated reports. Among available solutions for the enhancement of BioH₂ production, the selection of microbial strains with higher capacity in hydrogen productions is still one of the most phenomenal approaches in enhancing BioH₂ production. Other process intensifications using continuous operation compounded with synergistic chemical additions could deliver additional enhancement for BioH₂ productions during dark fermentation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biohydrogen Production Technologies and Application)

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