BIOHYDROGEN PRODUCTION FROM FERMENTATION OF SWEET SORHGUM (SORGHUM BIOCULAR L) BY INTEROBACTER AEROGENES ADH-43 IN THE PACKED-BED REACTOR

Abstract

Hydrogen gas (H2) is one of a clean energy because its combustion produces only water vapor and heat, and leaves no carbon emissions. H2 gas is an energy future that promises both from the aspect of social, economic, or environmental.  One of potential raw material for H2 gas production is Sweet sorghum (Sorghum bicolor).  It is an annual plant native of tropical adaptive in hot and dry season.  Moreover,   it has a high biomass production , it also can adapt to extreme and sub-tropical regions.  The objective of this experimental work was to produce gas H2 using sweet sorghum at packed-bed reactor by Enterobacter aerogenes ADH-43 and to get optimum dilution rate in order to increase gas H2 production. The reactor used is a packed bed with a working volume of 450 mL and total volume of 900 mL, height 60 cm with a diameter of 4 cm. The reactor is equipped with a coat of water associated with water heating to the temperature maintained at 37 ° C ± 1 oC.   It also linked to the flask containing the Ca (OH) 2 which serves to capture the CO2 gas produced, so expect only the H2 gas.  Batch experiments were performed in the beginning, the fresh sorghum medium was fed into the reactor before two hours  of the stationary phase in order to achieve continuous culture.  The steady state condition showed that that optimum dilution rate was 0.15 h-1 with H2 gasproduction 81.50 mmol/L.h and yield 0.87 mol H2/mol total sugar.