• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.580-586
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• 2010

Acid and alkali pretreatments were applied to tofu processing waste (TPW) to increase the solubility of ingredients in TPW. Pretreatment at 1.0% of HCl and 2.5% of NaOH condition resulted in the increase of SCOD concentration from 3.2 g COD/L to 27 g COD/L and 33 g COD/L, respectively. The acid and alkali-pretreated TPW was studied for its fermentative $H_2$ production capacity in batch mode using a thermophillic mixed culture. Alkali pretreatment on presence of 2.5% NaOH exhibited more soluble portion released compared to acid pretreatment using HCl, however the $H_2$ production from acid pretreated TPW was better than alkali-pretreated TPW probably due to the sodium inhibition on microbial activity. In addition, sewage sludge was externally added to the acid-pretreated (1.0% HCl) TPW by 20% (on volume basis). Average H2 production rate was increased from 31 to 78 ml/L-broth/hr, and it was attributed to the high buffer capacity and abundant nutrients especially divalent cation in sewage sludge.