Biohydrogen production from starchy wastewater in upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor: Possibilities toward circular bioeconomy
Chandan Mahata, Suman Dhar, Subhabrata Ray, Debabrata Das
Abstract
The present study investigates the performance of upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor for stable H2 production from starchy wastewater supplemented with groundnut de-oiled cake using mixed consortia. Insufficient reports are available on H2 production for UASB reactor. Operation of the UASB reactor was divided into two stages i.e., start-up period where desirable sludge height was developed and production period where different hydraulic retention time (HRT) was examined for H2 production. The maximum H2 production rate of 12.3 L L−1 d−1was observed at 3 h HRT. Details physicochemical characteristics of the granular sludge were studied using SEM-EDX image, FTIR spectra, particle size analyser, SVI value, EPS and metal content. Kinetic analysis of the process revealed that Grau, and modified Stover-Kicannon were the most suitable for H2 producing UASB reactor. This is the first report to implement these advanced bio-kinetic models of substrate consumption on hydrogen production in UASB reactor. Furthermore, a potential toward circular bioeconomy model has been discussed for the accomplishment of maximum resource recovery with a minimum waste generation.