An integrated biohydrogen refinery: synergy of photofermentation, extractive fermentation and hydrothermal hydrolysis of food wastes.

An Integrated Biohydrogen Refinery (IBHR) and experimental net energy analysis are reported. The IBHR converts biomass to electricity using hydrothermal hydrolysis, extractive biohydrogen fermentation and photobiological hydrogen fermentation for electricity generation in a fuel cell. An extractive fermentation, developed previously, is applied to waste-derived substrates following hydrothermal pre-treatment, achieving 83-99% biowaste destruction.

Electro-extractive fermentation for efficient biohydrogen production.

Electrodialysis, an electrochemical membrane technique, was found to prolong and enhance the production of biohydrogen and purified organic acids via the anaerobic fermentation of glucose by Escherichia coli. Through the design of a model electrodialysis medium using cationic buffer, pH was precisely controlled electrokinetically, i.e.