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. 2021 Mar;118(3):1342-1354.
doi: 10.1002/bit.27656. Epub 2021 Jan 11.

H2 production by photofermentation in an innovative plate-type photobioreactor with meandering channels

Violette Turon  1 , Stéphane Ollivier  1 , Gregory Cwicklinski  1 , John C Willison  2 , Zoé Anxionnaz-Minvielle  1
Affiliations

H2 production by photofermentation in an innovative plate-type photobioreactor with meandering channels

Violette Turon et al. Biotechnol Bioeng. 2021 Mar.

Abstract

Hydrogen production by Rhodobacter capsulatus is an anaerobic, photobiological process requiring specific mixing conditions. In this study, an innovative design of a photobioreactor is proposed. The design is based on a plate-type photobioreactor with an interconnected meandering channel to allow culture mixing and H2 degassing. The culture flow was characterized as a quasi-plug-flow with radial mixing caused by a turbulent-like regime achieved at a low Reynolds number. The dissipated volumetric power was decreased 10-fold while maintaining PBR performances (production and yields) when compared with a magnetically stirred tank reactor. To increase hydrogen production flow rate, several bacterial concentrations were tested by increasing the glutamate concentration using fed-batch cultures. The maximum hydrogen production flow rate (157.7 ± 9.3 ml H2 /L/h) achieved is one of the highest values so far reported for H2 production by R. capsulatus. These first results are encouraging for future scale-up of the plate-type reactor.

Keywords: Rhodobacter capsulatus; hydrogen production; meandering channels; photobioreactor; photofermentation.

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References

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