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Biological Processes in the Green Hydrogen Value Chain

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A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "A5: Hydrogen Energy".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2022) | Viewed by 11049

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Antonella Marone

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Guest Editor

Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA), Rome, Latium, Italy
Interests: environmental biotechnology; biohydrogen; fermentation; anaerobic digestion; biomethanation; bioelectrochemical systems; biorefinery

Dr. Alessandro Agostini

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Guest Editor

Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA), Rome, Latium, Italy
Interests: bioenergy; life cycle assessment; hydrogen and fuel cells; energy technologies; sustainability
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Claire Dumas

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Guest Editor

TBI, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, INRA, INSA, 31077 Toulouse cedex 4, France
Interests: valorization of organic wastes (urban wastes or lignocellulosic, agricultural wastes) in organic acids, alcohol and other biomolecules; leach bed fermentation reactors; solid state fermentation; solid state anaerobic digestion; biological methanation for biogas upgrading or syngas utilisation, biological activities; interaction between microorganism/substrate

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Green hydrogen may play a pivotal role in tackling climate change, ensuring renewable clean energy availability, improving resource efficiency and protecting the environment. However, green hydrogen must be turned into a viable solution to boost the transition from an unsustainable, fossil-based paradigm to a sustainable economy/society with hydrogen as its main pillar.

Hydrogen is an intermediate product of many metabolic processes. It can be produced from the degradation of organic matter by fermentation, from water via biophotolysis or, with the addition of a small potential, via microbial electrolysis.

Moreover, microorganisms can use hydrogen as a source of reducing power to produce a large spectrum of chemical building blocks of industrial interest or biomethane as an energy carrier. These abilities can be exploited for the development of biotechnological processes.

Biological processes may enable the valorization of biowaste into the green hydrogen value chain and also the conversion of excess electricity from nondispatchable renewable energy sources into easily storable chemical energy (power-to-gas) or bio-based products.

In such a scenario, innovative technologies based on hydrogen-related biological processes can be fully integrated into the green hydrogen value chain and boost the transition from fossil-based refineries to a new biorefinery concept.

This Special Issue aims to present a collection of original research and review papers that address research advances in technologies, process integration and their contribution to the sustainable inclusion of biological processes in the green hydrogen value chain. Studies that assess the sustainability (environmental, economic or social) aspects of hydrogen-related biological processes are welcomed as well.

Furthermore, any aspect concerning biological hydrogen production and/or use will be covered in this Special Issue, including but not limited to the following:

biohydrogen production by dark fermentation;
biohydrogen production by photofermentation;
biohydrogen production by algae;
microbial electrolysis cells;
bioprocesses for hydrogen utilization;
biomethanation;
bioelectrochemical systems;
hydrogen fermentation;
biological water gas shift;
biorefinery deployment, and case studies;
sustainability assessment of biohydrogen processes;
environmental LCA and eco-design of biohydrogen processes;
technoeconomic assessment of biohydrogen processes (LCC);
biohydrogen deployment scenarios and social aspects.

Dr. Antonella Marone
Dr. Alessandro Agostini
Dr. Claire Dumas
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

green hydrogen
biohydrogen
biological processes
dark fermentation
microbial electrolysis cells
biomethanation
Power to Gas (P2G)
hydrogen fermentation
biogas fermentation
syngas fermentation
LCA
LCC
sustainability assessment
biorefineries

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 1932 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Simultaneous Hydrogen and Ethanol Production from Crude Glycerol by a Microbial Consortium Using Fed-Batch Fermentation

by Sanjeet Mehariya, Antonella Signorini, Antonella Marone and Silvia Rosa

Energies 2023, 16(11), 4490; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16114490 - 02 Jun 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1065

Abstract

Simultaneous bioproduction of hydrogen and ethanol from cheaper waste feedstock has the potential for the development of a more cost-effective biofuel generation process. Crude glycerol (CG), a by-product of the biodiesel industry, is a renewable resource, abundant, sold at low prices and available worldwide. However, the main CG limitations in fermentation processes are mainly related to the presence of impurities and the lack of nitrogen sources, both acting on microbial activity. In this study, a fermentation process with CG was improved using a highly specific microbial consortium called GlyCeroL (GCL). The process was developed in fed-batch fermentation mode using not diluted substrate and carried out under non-sterile conditions and at increasing amounts of the substrate (from 20 to 80 gL⁻¹ of glycerol). The results showed higher H₂ (from 6 to 8 LL⁻¹) and EtOH (from 13 to 20 gL⁻¹) production by increasing glycerol concentration from 20 to 40 gL⁻¹. On the other hand, a decrease in glycerol degradation efficiency (from 75 to 56%) was observed. Then, the nitrogen sparging strategy was applied. Using CG of 40 gL⁻¹, process improvement was achieved, leading to the increased production of hydrogen (10 LL⁻¹) but not that of ethanol (20 gL⁻¹). A further increase to 60 gL⁻¹ of glycerol produced a slight increment of EtOH (21 gL⁻¹) and H₂ (11 gL⁻¹) but a sharp decrease in glycerol degradation efficiency (41%). Acetate, as the main impurity of CG, was an additional carbon source for GCL microorganisms contributing to EtOH production and increasing that of lactic acid to restore the redox balance. The Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis (DGGE) fingerprint at the end of all fed-batch fermentations supported the robustness of GCL functional units and their adaptability to fermentation conditions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biological Processes in the Green Hydrogen Value Chain)

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17 pages, 1865 KiB

Open AccessArticle

In Situ Biogas Upgrading in a Randomly Packed Gas-Stirred Tank Reactor (GSTR)

by Giuseppe Lembo, Silvia Rosa, Antonella Marone and Antonella Signorini

Energies 2023, 16(7), 3296; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16073296 - 06 Apr 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1048

Abstract

This study evaluated different strategies to increase gas–liquid mass transfer in a randomly packed gas stirred tank reactor (GSTR) continuously fed with second cheese whey (SCW), at thermophilic condition (55 °C), for the purpose of carrying out in situ biogas upgrading. Two different H₂ addition rates (1.18 and 1.47 L_H2 L_R⁻¹ d⁻¹) and three different biogas recirculation rates (118, 176 and 235 L L_R⁻¹ d⁻¹) were applied. The higher recirculation rate showed the best upgrading performance; H₂ utilization efficiency averaged 88%, and the CH₄ concentration in biogas increased from 49.3% during conventional anaerobic digestion to 75%, with a methane evolution rate of 0.37 L_CH4 L_R⁻¹ d⁻¹. The microbial community samples were collected at the end of each experimental phase, as well as one of the thermophilic sludge used as inoculum; metanogenomic analysis was performed using Illumina-based 16S sequencing. The whole microbial community composition was kept quite stable throughout the conventional anaerobic digestion (AD) and during the H₂ addition experimental phases (UP1, UP2, UP3, UP4). On the contrary, the methanogens community was deeply modified by the addition of H₂ to the GSTR. Methanogens of the Methanoculleus genus progressively increased in UP1 (47%) and UP2 (51%) until they became dominant in UP3 (94%) and UP4 (77%). At the same time, members of Methanotermobacter genus decreased to 19%, 23%, 3% and 10% in UP1, UP2, UP3 and UP4, respectively. In addition, members of the Methanosarcina genus decreased during the hydrogen addition phases. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biological Processes in the Green Hydrogen Value Chain)

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15 pages, 2687 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Hydrogen and Methane Production by Single- and Two-Stage Anaerobic Digestion of Second Cheese Whey: Economic Performances and GHG Emissions Evaluation

by Giuseppe Lembo, Antonella Signorini, Antonella Marone, Claudio Carbone and Alessandro Agostini

Energies 2022, 15(21), 7869; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15217869 - 24 Oct 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1175

Abstract

This study aimed at evaluating the economic performances of and carbon footprint associated with innovative systems for the energetic valorization of second cheese whey (SCW), a by-product of whey cheese manufacture, through anaerobic digestion processes. Three systems were modeled: a conventional single-stage anaerobic digester (FAD), located at about 50 km from the dairy factory; an on-site conventional single-stage anaerobic digester (CAD), located at the dairy industry; and an on-site two-stage anaerobic digester (TAD). The TAD technology enables the simultaneous production of hydrogen and methane on site. The biogases produced were combusted in combined heat and power plants (CHP), but only the onsite systems provided process heat to the dairy factory. In the specific conditions assumed, TAD configuration exhibited a higher energy output, which led to a GHG emission reduction of about 60% compared to FAD, mostly thanks to the additional hydrogen (H₂) production and the improved engine performances. A detailed cost analysis confirmed the results of the environmental analysis, pointing to the TAD solution as the most economically viable, with a payback period of 9 years, while the CAD had a payback time of 12 years. The results here presented aim at providing the dairy industry with a robust economic analysis on the opportunity of building an innovative system for SCW valorization, as well as providing policymakers with environmental reliable data to support the promotion of this technology. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biological Processes in the Green Hydrogen Value Chain)

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18 pages, 802 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Catalytic Effectiveness Factor for a Microbial Electrolysis Cell Biofilm Model

by René Alejandro Flores-Estrella, Victor Alcaraz-Gonzalez and Andreas Haarstrick

Energies 2022, 15(11), 4179; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15114179 - 06 Jun 2022

Viewed by 1583

Abstract

The aim of this work is to propose a methodology to obtain an effectiveness factor for biofilm in a microbial electrolysis cell (MEC) system and use it to reduce a partial differential equation (PDE) biofilm MEC model to an ordinary differential equation (ODE) MEC model. The biofilm mass balances of the different species are considered. In addition, it is considered that all the involved microorganisms are attached to the anodic biological film. Three effectiveness factors are obtained from partial differential equations describing the spatial distributions of potential and substrate in the biofilm. Then, a model reduction is carried out using the global mass balances of the different species in the system. The reduced model with three uncertain but bounded effectiveness factors is evaluated numerically and analyzed in the sense of stability and parametric sensibility to demonstrate its applicability. The reduced ODE model is compared with a validated model taken from the literature, and the results are in good agreement. The biofilm effectiveness factor in MEC systems can be extended to the reduction of PDE models to obtain ODE models that are commonly used in optimization and control problems. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biological Processes in the Green Hydrogen Value Chain)

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18 pages, 2082 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Enhanced Fermentative Hydrogen Production from Food Waste in Continuous Reactor after Butyric Acid Treatment

by Marie Céline Noguer, Jose Antonio Magdalena, Nicolas Bernet, Renaud Escudié and Eric Trably

Energies 2022, 15(11), 4048; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15114048 - 31 May 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2541

Abstract

End-product accumulation during dark fermentation leads to process instability and hydrogen production inhibition. To overcome this constraint, microbial community adaptation to butyric acid can induce acid tolerance and thus enhance the hydrogen yields; however, adaptation and selection of appropriate microbial communities remains uncertain when dealing with complex substrates in a continuous fermentation mode. To address this question, a reactor fed in continuous mode with food waste (organic loading rate of 60 gVS·L·d⁻¹; 12 h hydraulic retention time) was first stressed for 48 h with increasing concentrations of butyric acid (up to 8.7 g·L⁻¹). Performances were compared with a control reactor (unstressed) for 13 days. During 6 days in a steady-state, the pre-stressed reactor produced 2.2 ± 0.2 LH₂·L·d⁻¹, which was 48% higher than in the control reactor (1.5 ± 0.2 LH₂·L·d⁻¹). The pretreatment also affected the metabolites’ distribution. The pre-stressed reactor presented a higher production of butyric acid (+44%) achieving up to 3.8 ± 0.3 g·L⁻¹, a lower production of lactic acid (−56%), and an enhancement of substrate conversion (+9%). The performance improvement was attributed to the promotion of Clostridium guangxiense, a hydrogen -producer, with a relative abundance increasing from 22% in the unstressed reactor to 52% in the stressed reactor. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biological Processes in the Green Hydrogen Value Chain)

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20 pages, 5878 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Effect of Anode Material on the Performance of a Hydrogen Producing Microbial Electrolysis Cell, Operating with Synthetic and Real Wastewaters

by Ilias Apostolopoulos, Georgios Bampos, Amaia Soto Beobide, Stefanos Dailianis, George Voyiatzis, Symeon Bebelis, Gerasimos Lyberatos and Georgia Antonopoulou

Energies 2021, 14(24), 8375; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14248375 - 12 Dec 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2383

Abstract

The aim of the study was to assess the effect of anode materials, namely a carbon nanotube (CNT)-buckypaper and a commercial carbon paper (CP) on the performance of a two-chamber microbial electrolysis cell (MEC), in terms of hydrogen production and main electrochemical characteristics. The experiments were performed using both acetate-based synthetic wastewater and real wastewater, specifically the effluent of a dark fermentative hydrogenogenic reactor (fermentation effluent), using cheese whey (CW) as substrate. The results showed that CP led to higher hydrogen production efficiency and current density compared to the CNT-buckypaper anode, which was attributed to the better colonization of the CP electrode with electroactive microorganisms, due to the negative effects of CNT-based materials on the bacteria metabolism. By using the fermentation effluent as substrate, a two-stage process is developed, where dark fermentation (DF) of CW for hydrogen production occurs in the first step, while the DF effluent is used as substrate in the MEC, in the second step, to further increase hydrogen production. By coupling DF-MEC, a dual environmental benefit is provided, combining sustainable bioenergy generation together with wastewater treatment, a fact that is also reinforced by the toxicity data of the current study. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biological Processes in the Green Hydrogen Value Chain)

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