Two-Stage Biological Hydrogen Production by Rhodopseudomonas palustris P4

The integrated or the two-stage (dark anaerobic and photosynthetic) fermentation processes were compared for the hydrogen production using purple non-sulfur photosynthetic bacteria, Rhodopseudomonas palustris P4. Cell growth, pH changes and organic acids and bacteriochlorophyll contents were monitored during the processes. Culture broth of Rps. palustris P4 exhibited dark-red during the photosynthetic culture condition, while yellow under the anaerobic condition without light. Rps. palustris P4 grown at the photosynthetic condition evolved 0.38 and 1.33 ml $H_2$/mg-dcw during the dark and the light fermentation, respectively, which were totally 1.71 ml $H_2$/mg-dcw at the two-stage fermentation. The rate of hydrogen production using Rps. palustris P4 grown under the dark anaerobic condition was 2.76 ml $H_2$/mg-dcw which consisted of 0.46 and 2.30 ml $H_2$/mg-dcw from the dark and the photosynthetic fermentation processes, respectively. Rps. palustris P4 grown under dark anaerobic conditions produced $H_2$ 1.6 times higher than that of grown under the photosynthetic condition. However, total fermentation period of the former was 1.5 times slower than that of the latter, because the induced time of hydrogen production during the photosynthetic fermentation was 96 and 24 hours when the seed culture was the dark anaerobic and photosynthetic, respectively. The integrated fermentation process by Rps. palustris P4 produced 0.52 ml $H_2$/mg-dcw(1.01 mol $H_2$/mol glucose), which was 20% of the two-stage fermentation.

Rhodopseudomonas palustris P4에 의한 이 단계(Two-stage) 생물학적 수소생산