Biological Hydrogen Production From Municipal Solid Waste

The handling and disposal of municipal solid waste (MSW) is of growing concern in the U.S. as this waste continues to increase. MSW contains ~60% of biodegradable resources which can be utilized to produce biorenewable energy and value-added bioproducts. This study focuses on the isolation of new and efficient bacterial strains for production of biohydrogen from MSW via dark fermentation. The H₂-producing bacteria were isolated from MSW and granular sludge after several enrichment steps on various substrates, including MSW. Out of 65 isolates, two bacterial isolates were chosen as the most promising H₂ producers when grown on MSW as sole carbon source in a mineral salt medium. Analysis of the substrate utilization revealed that both isolates could utilize complex polymeric substrates such as starch, cellulose and hemicelluloses, in addition to C5 and C6 monosugars. The major byproducts from both isolates were ethanol, propionate, lactate and acetate.