Effect of Pretreatment Temperature on Fermentative Hydrogen Production from Activated Sludge

The effect of different temperatures used in heat treatment on activated sludge for hydrogen production from glucose was investigated in batch cultures. Heat treatments were conducted at 65, 80, 95 and 110℃ for 30 min. The untreated inocula was shown to produce less amount of hydrogen than the pretreated one. The maximum accumulative hydrogen production of 92.53 mL, hydrogen yields of 1.08 mol/mol, and glucose and specific hydrogen production of 8.36 mmol H2/gVSS were achieved at 65℃ . The results show that different pretreatment temperatures may induce to form different fermentation types: butyrate-type fermentation at 65℃and at 80℃, and mixed-type fermentation at 95℃and 110℃. It is also shown that the method of heat pretreatment used for bio - hydrogen production from the activated sludge does not inhibit the activity of the homacetogens, which accounts for the decrease of the content of hydrogen in the headspace after 48 hours' fermentation.