FUEL 125 |
| Extracting hydrogen directly from biomass by fermentation alone has not been proved economical due to low yields. Our recent report demonstrated a completely new approach of harvesting hydrogen directly from biomass by using electrochemically assisted microbial reactors. Similar to a water electrolyser, the reactor contains an anode and a cathode separated by a proton exchange membrane. Instead of splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen catalyzed by precious metal catalysts, this bioelectrochemically assisted process directly break down organic matter into carbon dioxide and hydrogen catalyzed by bacteria naturally existed in our environment. Although external power supply is needed to overcome the potential barrier, the energy need in this system is only about one-seventh of that in water electrolysis. More important, this process can potentially extract hydrogen from any biodegradable organic matter with high hydrogen yield (over 70% with acetate as starting material). In this report, we will demonstrate a new reactor design with an increased hydrogen production rate and energy recovery. |
|
Advances in Hydrogen Production
8:45 AM-12:00 PM, Tuesday, 12 September 2006 Palace -- Marina Room, Oral
Division of Fuel Chemistry |