Enhancing fermentative hydrogen production with the removal of volatile fatty acids by electrodialysis

Abstract

A three-chamber electrodialysis bioreactor comprising fermentation, cathode and anode chambers was proposed to remove in situ volatile fatty acids during hydrogen fermentation. The electrodialysis voltage of 4 V resulted in a volumetric hydrogen productivity of 1878.0 mL/L from the fermentation chamber, which is 55.4% higher than that (1208.5 mL/L) of the control group without voltage applied. Gas production was not observed in the cathode and anode chambers throughout fermentation. By applying different voltages (0–6 V), the hydrogen content accumulated to 54.6%–84.7%, and it exhibited increases of 7.1%–66.4% compared with that of the control. Meanwhile, the maximum concentrations of acetate and butyrate in the fermentation chamber decreased to 10.3 and 13.1 mmol/L at a voltage of 4 V, respectively, which are 68.0% and 62.4% lower than that for the control.