Hydrogen Production by Biological Processes

Among biological hydrogen production processes, fermentative processes have some advantages. In this research, the hydrogen producing bacterium was isolated from domestic landfill area and identified as Enterobacter sp. The strain was named Enterobacter sp. SNU-1453. Important parameters for the hydrogen process include pH, temperature, concentration of initial glucose, and kind of sugars. The pH of the culture medium significantly decreased as fermentation proceeded due to the accumulation of various organic acids, and this inhibited the $H_2$ production seriously. When pH was controlled at pH 7.0, hydrogen production was 2614.5 m1/1 in 17 hours. The increase of glucose concentration resulted in higher $H_2$ production. The productivity of this strain was 6.87 mmol $H_2/l$ per hi on concentration of 25g glucose/l. Enterobacter sp. SNU-1453 could utilize various sugars. These results indicate that Enterobacter sp. SNU-1453 has a high potential as a fermentative $H_2$ producer.