Bioaugmented hydrogen production from microcrystalline cellulose using co-culture-Clostridium acetobutylicumX₉ and Ethanoigenens harbinenseB₄₉

Dark fermentation of microcrystalline cellulose to produce biohydrogen using mono-culture or co-culture of isolated strains was studied. A strain (X₉) with high hydrogen yield from microcrystalline cellulose was isolated and identified to be closely affiliated with Clostridium acetobutylicum, ATCC 824. At 37 ^{{ring operator}} C and pH 5.0, the mono-culture of X₉ yields hydrogen with a 5-h time lag and end liquid products primarily of acetate and butyrate. The co-culture of X₉ with another strain, Ethanoigenens harbinenseB₄₉, which can produce hydrogen efficiently from monosaccharides but directly from microcrystalline cellulose, produced more efficiently the biohydrogen via ethanol-type fermentation metabolism compared with mono-culture X₉ test. Bioaugmentation with X₉ + B₄₉ improved cellulose hydrolysis and subsequent hydrogen production rates as compared with that of mono-culture bioaugmentation with X₉.