Biohydrogen - the fuel of the future, or the study of hydrogen production by Clostridium butyricum and Clostridium tyrobutyricum

abstract

English

With the rapid development of industry and its deepening impact on climate change, interest in the possible use of alternative energy sources has been growing in recent years. Much of this interest is focused on electricity from natural renewable energy sources (solar energy, hydroelectric or wind power, etc.). Another suitable type of renewable energy is the production of combustible gases such as methane or hydrogen. The downside of methane, however, is that its combustion produces CO2, which also contributes to already increasing greenhouse gas emissions. In contrast, when burning hydrogen, which is a clean, efficient and fully recyclable energy source, only water vapour is produced. A solution to this problem could be the biotechnological production of hydrogen using microorganisms capable of producing it using carbohydrate-rich waste materials from the food industry. Among the promising hydrogen producers are bacteria of the genus Clostridium. These bacteria, which are strict anaerobes, produce hydrogen through two metabolic pathways, namely acetic and butyric fermentation, using organic matter as the primary source of hydrogen and energy. These organic substrates include glucose and other hexoses, lactose, sucrose, starch, etc. This work focuses on the description of hydrogen production by the anaerobic bacteria Clostrodium butyricum and Clostridium tyrobutyricum with a focus on the optimal conditions for biohydrogen production such as culture time, suitable medium, temperature, pH, etc. Furthermore, his work focuses on the development of a suitable apparatus for the collection of the produced gas mixture followed by the analysis of the composition of produced gas mixture by Hiden QGA ("quantitative gas analysis"), based on the quadrupole principle, which is used for continuous analysis of gases and vapours.

biohydrogen, Clostridium butyricum, Clostridium tyrobutyricum, biotechnology

PACASOVÁ, V.; POULÍČEK, M.; ŠTĚTINA, J.; OBRUČA, S.

12. 9. 2024

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