Periyasamy Sivagurunathan

Batch fermentative hydrogen production by enriched mixed culture: Combination strategy and their microbial composition

The effect of individual and combined mixed culture on dark fermentative hydrogen production performance was investigated. Mixed cultures from cow dung (C1), sewage sludge (C2), and pig slurry (C3) were enriched under strict anaerobic conditions at 37°C with glucose as the sole carbon source. Biochemical hydrogen production test in peptone-yeast-glucose (PYG) and basal medium was performed for individual mixed cultures (C1, C2 and C3) and their combinations (C1-C2, C2-C3, C1-C3 and C1-C2-C3) at a glucose concentration of 10 g/L, 37°C and initial pH 7. Maximum hydrogen yields (HY) of 2.0 and 1.86 [Formula: see text] by C2, and 1.98 and 1.95 mol(H2)/mol(glucose) by C2-C3 were obtained in PYG and basal medium, respectively. Butyrate and acetate were the major soluble metabolites produced by all the cultures, and the ratio of butyrate to acetate was ∼2 fold higher in basal medium than PYG medium, indicating strong influence of media formulation on glucose catabolism. The major hydrogen-producing bacterial strains, observed in all mixed cultures, belonged to Clostridium butyricum, C. saccharobutylicum, C. tertium and C. perfringens. The hydrogen production performance of the combined mixed culture (C2-C3) was further evaluated on beverage wastewater (10 g/L) at pH 7 and 37°C. The results showed an HY of 1.92 mol(H2)/mol(glucose-equivalent). Experimental evidence suggests that hydrogen fermentation by mixed culture combination could be a novel strategy to improve the HY from industrial wastewater.

Recent insights into the cell immobilization technology applied for dark fermentative hydrogen production

The contribution and insights of the immobilization technology in the recent years with regards to the generation of (bio)hydrogen via dark fermentation have been reviewed. The types of immobilization practices, such as entrapment, encapsulation and adsorption, are discussed. Materials and carriers used for cell immobilization are also comprehensively surveyed. New development of nano-based immobilization and nano-materials has been highlighted pertaining to the specific subject of this review. The microorganisms and the type of carbon sources applied in the dark hydrogen fermentation are also discussed and summarized. In addition, the essential components of process operation and reactor configuration using immobilized microbial cultures in the design of varieties of bioreactors (such as fixed bed reactor, CSTR and UASB) are spotlighted. Finally, suggestions and future directions of this field are provided to assist the development of efficient, economical and sustainable hydrogen production technologies.

Enhanced biohydrogen production from beverage industrial wastewater using external nitrogen sources and bioaugmentation with facultative anaerobic strains

In this work biohydrogen generation and its improvement possibilities from beverage industrial wastewater were sought. Firstly, mesophilic hydrogen fermentations were conducted in batch vials by applying heat-treated (80°C, 30 min) sludge and liquid (LB-grown) cultures of Escherichia coli XL1-Blue/Enterobacter cloacae DSM 16657 strains for bioaugmentation purposes. The results showed that there was a remarkable increase in hydrogen production capacities when facultative anaerobes were added in the form of inoculum. Furthermore, experiments were carried out in order to reveal whether the increment occurred either due to the efficient contribution of the facultative anaerobic microorganisms or the culture ingredients (in particular yeast extract and tryptone) supplied when the bacterial suspensions (LB media-based inocula) were mixed with the sludge. The outcome of these tests was that both the applied nitrogen sources and the bacteria (E. coli) could individually enhance hydrogen formation. Nevertheless, the highest increase took place when they were used together. Finally, the optimal initial wastewater concentration was determined as 5 g/L.

Improved microbial conversion of de-oiled Jatropha waste into biohydrogen via inoculum pretreatment: process optimization by experimental design approach

In this study various pretreatment methods of sewage sludge inoculum and the statistical process optimization of de-oiled jatropha waste have been reported. Peak hydrogen production rate (HPR) and hydrogen yield (HY) of 0.36 L H2/L-d and 20 mL H2/g Volatile Solid (VS) were obtained when heat shock pretreatment (95 oC, 30 min) was employed. Afterwards, an experimental design was applied to find the optimal conditions for H2 production using heat-pretreated seed culture. The optimal substrate concentration, pH and temperature were determined by using response surface methodology as 205 g/L, 6.53 and 55.1 oC, respectively. Under these circumstances, the highest HPR of 1.36 L H2/L-d was predicted. Verification tests proved the reliability of the statistical approach. As a result of the heat pretreatment and fermentation optimization, a significant (~ 4 folds) increase in HPR was achieved. PCR-DGGE results revealed that Clostridium sp. were majorly present under the optimal conditions.

HRT dependent performance and bacterial community population of granular hydrogen-producing mixed cultures fed with galactose.

The effects of hydraulic retention times (HRTs-6, 3 and 2 h) on H2 production, operational stability and bacterial population response in a continuously stirred tank reactor (CSTR) were evaluated using galactose. A peak hydrogen production rate (HPR) of 25.9 L H2/L-d was obtained at a 3 h HRT with an organic loading rate (OLR) of 120 g/L-d, while the maximum hydrogen yield (HY) of 2.21 mol H2/mol galactose was obtained at a 6 h HRT (60 g galactose/L-d). Butyrate was dominant and the lactate concentration increased as HRT decreased, which significantly affected the HY. Biomass concentration (VSS) decreased from 16 to 3g/L at a 2 h HRT, leading to failure. A 3 h HRT supported the favorable growth of Clostridium species, as indicated by an increase in their populations from 25.4% to 27%, while significantly reducing Bacilli populations from 61.6% to 54.2%, indicating that this was the optimal condition.

A review on bio-electrochemical systems (BESs) for the syngas and value added biochemicals production

Bio-electrochemical systems (BESs) are the microbial systems which are employed to produce electricity directly from organic wastes along with some valuable chemicals production such as medium chain fatty acids; acetate, butyrate and alcohols. In this review, recent updates about value-added chemicals production concomitantly with the production of gaseous fuels like hydrogen and methane which are considered as cleaner for the environment have been addressed. Additionally, the bottlenecks associated with the conversion rates, lower yields and other aspects have been mentioned. In spite of its infant stage development, this would be the future trend of energy, biochemicals and electricity production in greener and cleaner pathway with the win-win situation of organic waste remediation. Henceforth, this review intends to summarise and foster the progress made in the BESs and discusses its challenges and outlook on future research advances.

Biofabrication and characterization of silver nanoparticles using aqueous extract of seaweed Enteromorpha compressa and its biomedical properties

Highlights • Eloquent biosynthesis of AgNPs using green seaweed Enteromorpha compressa.• Characterization of AgNPs was done by UV–vis, XRD, FTIR, HRTEM, SAED pattern and EDX.• Effective antibacterial activity against different clinical bacterial and fungal pathogens and cytotoxic assay on EAC cells.

Enhancement of Fermentative Hydrogen Production from Beverage Wastewater via Bioaugmentation and Statistical Optimization

In this study an attempt was made to enhance anaerobic hydrogen production from beverage wastewater (BWW) by augmenting anaerobic enriched mixed cultures (EMC) with facultative Enterobacteriaceae strains (E. Coli XL1-BLUE, Enterobacter cloacae) under mesophilic temperature 37°C, pH 5.5 and substrate concentration of 10 gglucose equivalent /L. Among the bioaugmented cultures, E. cloacae+EMC led to the peak hydrogen production rate (HPR) of 2250 mL/L-d. Furthermore, the variables substrate concentration and pH was statistically optimized using response surface methodology (RSM). Results show that the predicted maximum HPR of 3096 mL/L-d was achieved under optimal opera- tion conditions: substrate concentration 25.6 g glucose equivalent /L and pH 5.7. Verification experimental results showed HPR of 3044 mL/L-d, reveals that predicted results were closure with the experimental data and proved experimental design optimization processes are more feasible techniques for biohydrogen production. PCR-DGGE analysis indicates that Clos- tridium sp. and Enterobacter sp. were appeared under optimal conditions.

Bio-hythane production from microalgae biomass: Key challenges and potential opportunities for algal bio-refineries

The interest in microalgae for wastewater treatment and liquid bio-fuels production (i.e. biodiesel and bioethanol) is steadily increasing due to the energy demand of the ultra-modern technological world. The associated biomass and by-product residues generated from these processes can be utilized as a feedstock in anaerobic fermentation for the production of gaseous bio-fuels. In this context, dark fermentation coupled with anaerobic digestion can be a potential technology for the production of hydrogen and methane from these residual algal biomasses. The mixture of these gaseous bio-fuels, known as hythane, has superior characteristics and is increasingly regarded as an alternative to fossil fuels. This review provides the current developments achieved in the conversion of algal biomass to bio-hythane (H2+CH4).

Mesophilic continuous fermentative hydrogen production from acid pretreated de-oiled jatropha waste hydrolysate using immobilized microorganisms

Mesophilic hydrogen production from acid pretreated hydrolysate (biomass concentration of 100g/L and 2% hydrochloric acid) of de-oiled jatropha waste was carried out in continuous system using immobilized microorganisms at various hydraulic retention times (HRTs) ranging from 48 to 12h. The experimental results of the reusability of immobilized microorganisms showed their stability up to 10 cycles with an average cumulative hydrogen production of 770mL/L. The peak hydrogen production rate and hydrogen yield were 0.9L/L*d and 86mL/greducing sugars added, respectively at 16h HRT, with butyrate as the predominant volatile fatty acid. The microbial community analysis revealed that majority of the PCR-DGGE bands were assigned to genus Clostridium and were perhaps the key drivers of the higher hydrogen production.