Yongzhong Wang

Characteristics of a biofilm photobioreactor as applied to photo-hydrogen production.

The application of a cell immobilization technique to a biofilm-based photobioreactor was developed to enhance its photo-hydrogen production rate and light conversion efficiency. Rhodopseudomonas palustris CQK 01 was initially attached to the surface of packed glass beads to form a biofilm in this experiment. Then, the biofilm photobioreactor (BPBR) was illuminated by light-emitting diodes with light wavelengths of 470, 590 and 630 nm and hydrogen was evolved with glucose being the sole carbon source. Under the illumination condition of 5000 lux illumination intensity and 590 nm wavelength, the BPBR showed good hydrogen production performance: the hydrogen production rate was 38.9 ml/l/h and light conversion efficiency was 56%, while the hydrogen yield was 0.2 mol H(2)/ mol glucose. Furthermore, results show that the highest hydrogen production rate and glucose removal rate were obtained when the glucose concentration is 0.12 M, the optimal pH 7 and optimal temperature of influent liquid 25 degrees C.

Characteristics of hydrogen production and substrate consumption of Rhodopseudomonas palustris CQK 01 in an immobilized-cell photobioreactor

Effects of operation parameters on hydrogen production rate, substrate utilization efficiency and hydrogen bioconversion yield were investigated in a photobioreactor packed with sodium alginate/polyvinyl alcohol-124/carrageenan granules containing Rhodopseudomonas palustris CQK 01. Results demonstrate that an increase in influent glucose concentration and flow rate enhanced glucose transport from the bulk liquid into the granules, resulting in high hydrogen production. The bacteria mainly utilized the photo-heterotrophic pathway under optimal light illumination and produced hydrogen at low influent substrate loading, while they produced organic acids at high influent loading. The optimal temperature and pH of the influent medium for hydrogen production were independent of the illumination wavelength. The maximal hydrogen production rate of 2.61mmol/L/h was achieved under illumination at 590nm and 6000lx, a substrate concentration of 60mmol/L, a temperature of 30 degrees C and a pH7 of the influent medium.

Formation and hydrogen production of photosynthetic bacterial biofilm under various illumination conditions

The application of immobilized-cell technology in photobioreactor for hydrogen production could offer improvements in photo-hydrogen production rate and light utilization efficiency. Indigenous Rhodopseudomonas palustris CQK 01 was attached to the surface of a cover glass slide in a flat-panel photobioreactor, to form biofilm under illumination with a range of intensities and wavelengths. The morphology and structure of mature photosynthetic bacterial (PSB) biofilm were determined to elucidate the relationship between biofilm formation and hydrogen production performance. The effects of operation conditions on hydrogen production performance of the biofilms formed under various illumination conditions were experimentally investigated. The results showed that illumination wavelength and intensity substantially influenced the morphology and structure of the biofilm, and the hydrogen production performance of mature biofilm varied significantly with the illumination conditions that were used for biofilm formation. Biofilm formed under 590 nm and 5000 lx illumination showed the highest hydrogen production performance.

Enhancement of photo-hydrogen production in a biofilm photobioreactor using optical fiber with additional rough surface.

In this study, a biofilm photobioreactor with optical fibers that have additional rough surface (OFBP-R) was developed and it was shown that additional rough surface greatly enhanced the biofilm formation and thus increased the cell concentration, leading to an improvement in the hydrogen production performance. The effects of operational conditions, including the influent substrate concentration, flow rate, temperature and influent medium pH, on the performance of OFBP-R were also investigated. The experimental results showed that the optimum operational conditions for hydrogen production were: the influent substrate concentration 60 mM, flow rate 30 mL/h, temperature 30 °C and influent medium pH 7. Under the optimal operation conditions discovered in this work, the OFBP-R yielded fairly good and stable long-term performance with hydrogen production rate of 1.75 mmol/L/h, light conversion efficiency of 9.3% and substrate degradation efficiency of 75%.

Optofluidic Microreactors with TiO2-Coated Fiberglass

Optofluidic microreactors are promising prospects for photocatalytic reactions. However, because the flow type in conventional designs is typically laminar, the mass transport mainly relies on diffusion, and thus the rate of mass transport is limited. Accordingly, poor mass transport reduces the photocatalytic reaction rate. To alleviate the limitation of mass transport, in this work, we proposed a novel optofluidic microreactor with TiO2-coated fiberglasses immersed in the microreaction chamber. Such a design enables enhanced mass transport by shortening the transport length and inducing the perturbation to liquid flow so as to improve the performance. We demonstrated the feasibility of the optofluidic microreactor with the TiO2-coated fiberglass by the photocatalytic water treatment of methylene blue under UV irradiation. Results showed that the proposed optofluidic microreactor yielded much higher degradation efficiency than did the conventional optofluidic microreactor as a result of enhanced mass transport. The microreactor with the TiO2-coated fiberglass showed a 2-3-fold improvement in the reaction rate constant as opposed to conventional ones. The maximal increment of the degradation efficiency can reach more than 40%.

Bioconversion characteristics of Rhodopseudomonas palustris CQK 01 entrapped in a photobioreactor for hydrogen production.

The performance of the entrapped-cell photobioreactor during H2 production was assessed by using glucose as substrate in a continuous operation mode. The maximal hydrogen production rate and light conversion efficiency, 2.61 mmol/L/h and 82.3%, were obtained at a HRT of 11.4 h, an substrate loading rate of 4.2 mmol/h and an illumination of 590 nm and 6000 lux, the corresponding hydrogen yield and total energy efficiency were 0.62 mmol H2/(mmol glucose) and 4.8%, respectively. The results indicate the H2 production system illuminated at 590 nm wavelength engaged in energy storage for H2 production due to more ATP synthesized in primary reaction center, and was of higher energy recovery capacity. Furthermore, the total energy efficiency was far lower than the corresponding light conversion efficiency due to intermediates production.

Hydrolysates of lignocellulosic materials for biohydrogen production

Lignocellulosic materials are commonly used in bio-H2 production for the sustainable energy resource development as they are abundant, cheap, renewable and highly biodegradable. In the process of the bio-H2 production, the pretreated lignocellulosic materials are firstly converted to monosaccharides by enzymolysis and then to H2 by fermentation. Since the structures of lignocellulosic materials are rather complex, the hydrolysates vary with the used materials. Even using the same lignocellulosic materials, the hydrolysates also change with different pretreatment methods. It has been shown that the appropriate hydrolysate compositions can dramatically improve the biological activities and bio-H2 production performances. Over the past decades, hydrolysis with respect to different lignocellulosic materials and pretreatments has been widely investigated. Besides, effects of the hydrolysates on the biohydrogen yields have also been examined. In this review, recent studies on hydrolysis as well as their effects on the biohydrogen production performance are summarized. [BMB Reports 2013; 46(5): 244-251]

Enhanced hydrogen production by Rhodopseudomonas palustris CQK 01 with ultra-sonication pretreatment in batch culture

In the present study, the photo-hydrogen production performances by Rhodopseudomonas palustris CQK 01 growing from the inoculated cells with ultra-sonication pretreatment (R. palustris CQK 01-USP) were experimentally investigated in batch culture and compared with that without pretreatment (R. palustris CQK 01-NP). It was found that the ultra-sonication pretreatment modified membrane morphology and broke up part of the cells, resulting in improvement of membrane permeability and bacterial activities and hence, helping the improvement of hydrogen production. The hydrogen production rate, hydrogen yield and energy conversion efficiency with R. palustris CQK 01-USP were increased to be nearly 2 times higher than that with R. palustris CQK 01-NP. The parametric study showed that under the conditions of initial glucose concentration 50 mmol/l, inoculum size 12%, illumination wavelength 590 nm, the photobioreactor with R. palustris CQK 01-USP obtained the optimal hydrogen production rate 0.54 mmol/l/h, hydrogen yield 1.2 mol-H2/mol-glucose and energy conversion efficiency 9.03%.

Effects of flow rate and substrate concentration on the formation and H2 production of photosynthetic bacterial biofilms

Photosynthetic bacteria (PSB), Rhodopseudomonas palustris CQK 01, were immobilized on the surface of a thin glass slide in a lab-scale flat panel photobioreactor under different flow rates and substrate concentrations. The morphology, dry weight and thickness of the mature PSB biofilms were determined to reveal the relationship between biofilm formation and hydrogen production performance. The mature biofilm formed at a low flow rate and a high substrate concentration showed a looser structure, these structures of the mature biofilm then affected the H(2) production performance of the bioreactor during mature stage. The biofilm formed at a flow rate of 228 ml/h and a substrate concentration of 60 mmol/l exhibited the highest dry weight and optimally porous structure, which is beneficial not only for hydrogen removal from the biofilm but also glucose diffusion into the biofilm, thus significantly boosting the photo-hydrogen production performance.

Effects of surface roughness on optical properties and sensitivity of fiber-optic evanescent wave sensors

The effects of surface roughness on the light transmission properties and sensitivity of fiber-optic evanescent wave sensors are investigated. A simple method of increasing the sensitivity based on the surface roughness (pit depth δ and diameter Δ) and incident angle U(i) of light rays on the fiber input end is proposed. We discovered that as 2δ/Δ increases, the transmitted light intensity decreases, but the sensitivity initially increases and then decreases. In sensors containing fibers of various roughnesses, the sensitivity to glucose solutions reached -11.7 mW/riu at 2δ/Δ=0.32 and increased further to -15.3 mW/riu with proper adjustment of U(i).