Enhanced hydrogen production by means of sulfur-deprived Chlamydomonas reinhardtii cultures grown in pretreated olive mill wastewater
✍ Scribed by Cecilia Faraloni; Alba Ena; Cristina Pintucci; Giuseppe Torzillo
- Publisher
- Elsevier Science
- Year
- 2011
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 594 KB
- Volume
- 36
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0360-3199
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✦ Synopsis
Under sulfur-deprived conditions, the metabolism of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii switches to the photoproduction of hydrogen. This process is sustained by both photosystem II-driven water splitting and by the fermentation of stored carbohydrates. We investigated the possibility of using diluted pretreated olive mill wastewaters (OMW), which contain organic acids and sugars, as a substrate on which to grow Chlamydomonas, in order to obtain suitable biomass to produce hydrogen. The cells grown on a mixture of pretreated OMW and TAP (tris-acetate-phosphate) (50% dilution) were found to be richer in carbohydrates and exhibited a greater production of hydrogen (150 ml H 2 l À1 culture), compared to the control cells (100 ml H 2 l À1 culture). In these cultures, the hydrogen production process was characterized by a shorter aerobic phase and a longer hydrogen-production period. The results offer a useful perspective for the utilization of olive mill wastewaters, which constitute an environmental problem, particularly in Mediterranean areas, and for increasing the output for hydrogen production with Chlamydomonas.