Biohydrogen Production

Biohydrogen production

Hydrogen is an important industrial raw material and the most desirable future energy source, of which hydrogen fuel cells are recognized worldwide as the leading fuel cell in the future. Currently, hydrogen is mainly produced from fossil fuels, biomass, and water, of which about 90% comes from natural gas reactions or steam reforming of light oil fractions. Gasification of carbon and electrolysis of water is the other main methods for industrial hydrogen production, but both require large amounts of energy and cause environmental pollution. However, biohydrogen production can be carried out at room temperature and pressure and does not require much energy. Not only is the biohydrogen process environmentally friendly, but it also opens up a new way to use renewable resources.

Our Solution

Biohydrogen production methods
  • Biological photolysis of water using algae or cyanobacteria
  • Photodegradation of organic compounds by photosynthetic bacteria
  • Fermentation of organic compounds for hydrogen production
  • Coupled hydrogen production by photosynthetic bacteria and fermentation bacteria
  • Enzymatic hydrogen production
Microbial hydrogen production process
  • Dark fermentation hydrogen production
  • Photobiological hydrogen production (photolytic hydrogen production and photo fermentation hydrogen production)
  • Photo dark fermentation coupled hydrogen production
Methods Rate Conversion substrate type Substrate conversion efficiency Relationship with environment
Hydrogen production from photolytic water Slow Water Low Need a light, no pollution to the environment
Hydrogen production by photo fermentation Faster Small molecules of organic acids and alcohols Higher Hydrogen can be produced from various organic wastewater, and the process of hydrogen production needs light
Dark fermentation hydrogen production Fast Glucose, starch, cellulose, and other carbohydrates High Hydrogen can be produced from various industrial and agricultural wastes, but the fermentation waste stream needs to be treated before discharge
Hydrogen production by coupling light and dark fermentation Fastest Glucose, starch, cellulose, and other carbohydrates Highest Hydrogen can be produced from various industrial and agricultural wastes, but oxygen is required for the light fermentation process

Our Focus

Green algae

Can produce hydrogen from water, convert 10 times more solar energy than trees and crops, need light, the system exists oxygen threat, slow hydrogen production.

Our current research points

  • For two-step photosynthesis reactions, separating hydrogen and oxygen production.
  • For single-step reactions, make reversible hydrogenase more tolerant to oxygen by genetic modification.

Cyanobacteria

can produce hydrogen from water, nitrogen-fixing enzyme mainly produces hydrogen, has the ability to fix nitrogen from the atmosphere requires sunlight, and hydrogen is mixed with 30% of oxygen and oxygen has an inhibitory effect on nitrogen fixation enzyme.

Cyanobacteria structure

Our current research points

  • Reactor design
  • Removal of hydrogenase to stop the degradation of hydrogen
  • Timely de-oxygenation
Photosynthetic bacteria

Can utilize different waste materials, can utilize a wide range of the spectrum, high energy utilization, need light, fermentation broth can cause water pollution.

Our current research points

  • Coupling of PSB with chloroplasts and applying anti-microcluster technology to improve hydrogen production rate.
  • Improving light penetration and reactor design.
  • Genetic manipulation to improve the efficiency of light absorption by controlling the expression of photosynthetic proteins.
Fermenting bacteria

No need for light, a very large carbon source available, valuable metabolites such as butyric acid can be produced, anaerobic fermentation, no oxygen supply, and the hydrogen production rate is relatively the highest, and the fermentation waste stream needs to be treated before discharge, otherwise it will cause water pollution.

Our current research points

  • To reduce the partial pressure of hydrogen in the liquid phase and make the reaction proceed in the direction favorable to hydrogen production, the method of injecting nitrogen into the reactor is used, so there is a problem of optimizing the nitrogen injection rate.
Isolation and purification of new high-efficiency hydrogen-producing strains

Biological hydrogen production is hydrogen prepared by using anaerobic or photosynthetic bacteria, using carbohydrate hydrogen donors. Biological hydrogen production is based on processing wastewater from sugar, starch, soybean products, brewing, and wheat dairy products, as well as agricultural waste such as bran, dregs, and straw as raw materials. Biological hydrogen production is not only a source of hydrogen needed for production and daily life but also enables the recycling of waste. To seek high-efficiency hydrogen-producing microorganisms and to obtain high hydrogen production capacity, we have isolated and purified some strains, mainly parthenogenic Enterobacteriaceae, Clostridiaceae, Thermoanaerobacterium, etc.

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