In-Situ Continuous Production of Hydrogen Gas from Molasses Using Mutated Enterobacter aerogenes ADH43 for Fuel Cell Application

The performance of the continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) for the in-situ production of hydrogen gas (H) integrated with a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) was investigated. Facultative 2 anaerobe fermentation of Enterobacter aerogenes ADH-43 was conducted into CSTR 50 rpm of agitation speed, 37°C of temperature, 6.3 of pH and 0.15; 0.3; 0.45; 0.60 hG1 of dilution rate. Bio-H produced was assessed after 2 inserting it into a fuel cell to generate electricity and measuring voltages. The system was integrated with a ceramic membrane having 0.2 μm pore size for recycling the retentive cell into reactor and separating the permeate supernatant during the fermentation. The obtained H was purified from CO by absorption in Ca(OH) 2 2 2 solution prior to feed to PEMFC. The CSTR was initially operated on batch basis to increase the bacterial cell density to ensure the production of sufficient H and develop a feeding culture strategy for continues operation 2 mode. The result showed that the highest H production achieved at continuous system resulted in 0.30 hG 2 1 of optimum dilution rate. The maximum H volume of 9.76 l H /l sugar, the yield of 1.8 mol H /mol sugar and 2 2 2 the flow rate of 115 ml H /min were obtained. Furthermore, colony count of 9.81 log cfu/ml, pH of 5.73, maximum 2 electrical current of 0.38 Ampere, electrical power of 2.20 Watt and electrical voltage of 5.75 volt after given resistance using LED of 25 ohm was also obtained.