Majid Hosseini
1The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Title: Technical challenges of fermentative bio-hydrogen production from biomass
Biography
Biography: Majid Hosseini
Abstract
A hydrogen production approach that shows great potential and may prove to be a key to establishing a hydrogen based economy is one that is centered on fermentation process technologies. The systems that rely upon fermentation utilize microorganisms (bacteria) that generate hydrogen during the decomposition of organic matter. Refined sugars, waste water streams and certain sources of raw biomass can all be used as organic matter in this process. Hydrogen can be generated directly from microbes in direct hydrogen fermentation from the decomposition of complex molecules via various pathways, where selected pathway byproducts of some are combined with enzymes. Certain challenges that face fermentation systems, such as how to increase bio-hydrogen production rates and how to maximize output without increasing the amount of organic matter used, must be addressed prior to the process becoming commercially viable. In this work, technical challenges of fermentative bio-hydrogen production from various biomass sources, optimization of critical process parameters and how cost effective biomass sources can be utilized, are discussed. Additionally, potential industrial applications, limitations and challenges for scale up, recent progress in bioreactor development alongside designing and optimizing systems will be covered. To conclude, challenges that are specific to the biomass used in fermentative bio-hydrogen production, thoughts on further development with examples that highlight the relevant processes and future outlook are presented