Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology

The Korean Society for Microbiology and Biotechnology (한국미생물·생명공학회)
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Can a Fermentation Gas Mainly Produced by Rumen Isotrichidae Ciliates be a Potential Source of Biohydrogen and a Fuel for a Chemical Fuel Cell?

  • Piela, Piotr (Industrial Chemistry Research Institute) ;
  • Michalowski, Tadeusz (Institute of Animal Physiology and Nutrition, Polish Academy of Sciences) ;
  • Miltko, Renata (Institute of Animal Physiology and Nutrition, Polish Academy of Sciences) ;
  • Szewczyk, Krzysztof W. (Faculty of Chemical and Process Engineering, Warsaw University of Technology) ;
  • Sikora, Radoslaw (Institute of Radioelectronics, Warsaw University of Technology) ;
  • Grzesiuk, Elzbieta (Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences) ;
  • Sikora, Anna (Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences)
  • Received : 2010.01.28
  • Accepted : 2010.04.18
  • Published : 2010.07.28
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Abstract

Bacteria, fungi, and protozoa inhabiting the rumen, the largest chamber of the ruminants' stomach, release large quantities of hydrogen during the fermentation of carbohydrates. The hydrogen is used by coexisting methanogens to produce methane in energy-yielding processes. This work shows, for the first time, a fundamental possibility of using a hydrogen-rich fermentation gas produced by selected rumen ciliates to feed a low-temperature hydrogen fuel cell. A biohydrogen fuel cell (BHFC) was constructed consisting of (i) a bioreactor, in which a hydrogen-rich gas was produced from glucose by rumen ciliates, mainly of the Isotrichidae family, deprived of intra- and extracellular bacteria, methanogens, and fungi; and (ii) a chemical fuel cell of the polymer-electrolyte type (PEFC). The fuel cell was used as a tester of the technical applicability of the fermentation gas produced by the rumen ciliates for power generation. The average estimated hydrogen yield was ca. 1.15 mol $H_2$ per mole of fermented glucose. The BHFC performance was equal to the performance of the PEFC running on pure hydrogen. No fuel cell poisoning effects were detected. A maximum power density of $1.66\;kW/m^2$ (PEFC geometric area) was obtained at room temperature. The maximum volumetric power density was $128\;W/m^3$ but the coulombic efficiency was only ca. 3.8%. The configuration of the bioreactor limited the continuous operation time of this BHFC to ca. 14 h.

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References

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