Micro-Aerobic Fermentative Hydrogen Production from Corn Stalk

To verify the feasibility of micro-aerobic fermentative hydrogen production from straw, micro-aerobic and anaerobic fermentative hydrogen production was carried out in a bottle test (150 mL) and scale-up experiment (10 L) using untreated and acid- and alkaline-pretreated corn stalk (CS) as substrates. A maximum increase of 68.71% of hydrogen production was obtained in the bottle test with addition of 280 mL/(kg total solids [TS]·day) oxygen from acid-pretreated CS. Micro-aerobic fermentation increased the hydrogen yield and production rate by 43.3% and 42.3%, respectively, in scale-up experiments compared to anaerobic fermentation. Micro-aerobic fermentative hydrogen production was conducted at an oxidation reduction potential of -300 to -150 mV. Both micro-aerobic and anaerobic hydrogen production were butyric acid-type fermentation.