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Techno-economic analysis of a two-step biological process producing hydrogen and methane.

Ljunggren, Mattias LU and Zacchi, Guido LU (2010) In Bioresource Technology 101(20). p.7780-7788
Abstract
Biological hydrogen production using dark fermentation has been proposed as an alternative and renewable way of producing hydrogen from biomass. However, theoretically, the conversion of biomass to biohydrogen using dark fermentation only utilizes one third of the energy content of the sugars derived from starch or cellulose; the rest being in the form of organic acids also produced by the microorganisms. To provide a viable alternative, the energy contained in the organic acids produced in dark fermentation must also be utilized. This can be done in several ways, one of which is to produce methane in an anaerobic digestion step. The technical and economical feasibility of this two-step biological process is investigated in the present... (More)
Biological hydrogen production using dark fermentation has been proposed as an alternative and renewable way of producing hydrogen from biomass. However, theoretically, the conversion of biomass to biohydrogen using dark fermentation only utilizes one third of the energy content of the sugars derived from starch or cellulose; the rest being in the form of organic acids also produced by the microorganisms. To provide a viable alternative, the energy contained in the organic acids produced in dark fermentation must also be utilized. This can be done in several ways, one of which is to produce methane in an anaerobic digestion step. The technical and economical feasibility of this two-step biological process is investigated in the present study employing three base cases reflecting the different strategies that can be used when performing dark fermentation: high productivity, high yield, and low productivity-low yield. The glucose concentrations, hydrogen productivities and yields studied herein ranges from 4-20g/L, 7.25-45.75mmol H(2)/(lh) and 1.37-3.48mmol H(2)/mole glucose, respectively. The production of pure methane was included as a reference case to investigate how the production of hydrogen affects the production cost. The cost estimates ranged from 50 to 340euro/GJ for the three base cases and the reference case for the process alternatives investigated. The results show that the capital costs and the nutrients used in the two biological steps are the main contributors to the cost in all base cases and the reference case. Furthermore, increasing the substrate concentration and, surprisingly, decreasing the hydrogen yield, reduces the production cost. (Less)
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author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Bioresource Technology
volume
101
issue
20
pages
7780 - 7788
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • wos:000280340300013
  • pmid:20570505
  • scopus:77954313440
  • pmid:20570505
ISSN
1873-2976
DOI
10.1016/j.biortech.2010.05.009
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
bed0fa97-1b64-46a1-b82d-c793feacde07 (old id 1625817)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 13:58:25
date last changed
2023-11-13 00:34:07
@article{bed0fa97-1b64-46a1-b82d-c793feacde07,
  abstract     = {{Biological hydrogen production using dark fermentation has been proposed as an alternative and renewable way of producing hydrogen from biomass. However, theoretically, the conversion of biomass to biohydrogen using dark fermentation only utilizes one third of the energy content of the sugars derived from starch or cellulose; the rest being in the form of organic acids also produced by the microorganisms. To provide a viable alternative, the energy contained in the organic acids produced in dark fermentation must also be utilized. This can be done in several ways, one of which is to produce methane in an anaerobic digestion step. The technical and economical feasibility of this two-step biological process is investigated in the present study employing three base cases reflecting the different strategies that can be used when performing dark fermentation: high productivity, high yield, and low productivity-low yield. The glucose concentrations, hydrogen productivities and yields studied herein ranges from 4-20g/L, 7.25-45.75mmol H(2)/(lh) and 1.37-3.48mmol H(2)/mole glucose, respectively. The production of pure methane was included as a reference case to investigate how the production of hydrogen affects the production cost. The cost estimates ranged from 50 to 340euro/GJ for the three base cases and the reference case for the process alternatives investigated. The results show that the capital costs and the nutrients used in the two biological steps are the main contributors to the cost in all base cases and the reference case. Furthermore, increasing the substrate concentration and, surprisingly, decreasing the hydrogen yield, reduces the production cost.}},
  author       = {{Ljunggren, Mattias and Zacchi, Guido}},
  issn         = {{1873-2976}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{20}},
  pages        = {{7780--7788}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Bioresource Technology}},
  title        = {{Techno-economic analysis of a two-step biological process producing hydrogen and methane.}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2010.05.009}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.biortech.2010.05.009}},
  volume       = {{101}},
  year         = {{2010}},
}