Fermentability of molasses and condition of biohydrogen production

To increase the fermentability and the yield of hydrogen, the effects of pre-processing method of molasses and fermentative conditions on cell growth and hydrogen production were investigated in batch culture. The results show that the hydrogen yield was significantly increased when the oxygen removal process by boiling of the culture was not applied. The optimal COD of molasses was 20.6 g/L for cell growth and hydrogen production of Ethanoligenens sp B49.The limit of COD for cell growth using molasses as substrate was 41.2 g/L. In addition, yeast extract in the medium significantly increased the fermentability and the yield of hydrogen by Ethanoligenens sp B49 using molasses fermentation and the optimal concentration was 4 g/L. At the optimal concentration of molasses and yeast extract, the hydrogen yield was 78.97 mmol/L culture and was increased by 76.2%. Therefore, the fermentability and yield of hydrogen from molasses could be significantly improved by the adjustment of the pre-processing method of molasses and the fermentative conditions.