Waste water - a source of hydrogen

Bacteria produce hydrogen for power generation

Washington - Major U.S. food producers could use their starch-rich
wastewater to hydrogen production with a value of five million
dollars. This is made possible by the addition of hydrogen-producing
bacteria wastewater. The researchers presented the results of the Penn
State University on the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Society
for Microbiology.

In the experiment enabled the U.S. researcher Steven Van Ginkel and Oh
Sang-Eun, the wastewater of a food processing company with a
hydrogen-producing bacteria. Formed only with bacteria, the spores.
These bacteria form survives even under harsh environmental
conditions, starts growth again but under favorable conditions.

"The spores contain bacteria that produce hydrogen. In case of contact
with the waste they eat food in the water and produce hydrogen in a
conventional fermentation process," says Van Ginkel. If the effluent
is also in the hydrogen production kept pace in the weakly acidic
range, methane-producing bacteria can grow and consume no not the
hydrogen.

Biogas

According to researchers formed after only one Fermentationstag biogas
under anaerobic conditions with a hydrogen content of 60 percent and a
CO2 level of 40 percent. In the second phase of the process will
change the acidity of the effluent and methane-producing bacteria are
added. These bacteria eat the remainder methane, produce and grow. The
remaining sludge corresponds to one quarter to one fifth of the volume
as obtained under aerobic conditions.

The benefits, according to Van Ginkel on hand. Hydrogen and methane
could be converted into electricity via fuel cells. Both gases are
removed from the wastewater plant would no longer be ventilated.
According Ginkel ventilation for 20 to 80 percent of the wastewater
treatment cost is responsible.