Fermentative Hydrogen Production from Combination of Tofu Waste and Digester Sludge by a Mixed Culture
The combination of Tofu manufacturing waste and digester sludge was studied for fermentative H2 production in batch and continuous modes using a mixed culture. In order to increase the solubilization of organic substrates from Tofu waste, various pretreatments including heat-treatment, acid/alkali addition, and sonication were applied alone or in combination with others, and high concentrations of soluble carbohydrate (~ 10 g/L) were obtained with 0.5%(w/v) HCl at 110oC. Digester sludge was added to the Tofu waste as a supplementary nitrogen-source, and incubated with a mixed H2-producing culture. Optimal mixing ratio of digester sludge was 20% (v/v) under batch conditions at 60oC and pH 5.5. In continuous experiments using a CSTR, the reactor was initially fed with synthetic media containing 1% (w/v) glucose at a HRT of 12 hrs and the ratio of the pretreated Tofu waste and digester sludge was gradually increased from 20% to 100% (v/v). After the stabilization of the reactor for H2 production, the effects of HRT and pH were investigated. With decreasing HRT, volumetric H2 production rate increased. The H2production performance was not affected by pH 5.5 - 6.0, but, at pH 5.0, the reactor became unstable. The composition of headspace gas in the reactor was constantly kept at 50-60%(v/v) of H2 gas and no appreciable CH4 was detected during the fermentation. The maximal volumetric H2 production rate was 7.8 L H2/L/day. This study indicates that the combination Tofu waste and digester sludge could be considered as suitable substrates for H2 fermentation.