Accelerating start-up of thermophilic dark fermentation would improve hydrogen production efficiency was investigated. To find an efficient method for accelerating start-up and explore the effect of inoculum type for hydrogen production system, three thermophilic hydrogen production EGSB (expanded granular sludge bed) reactors equipped with flocculent or granular sludge using different startup modes were constructed in this study. Among three reactors under butyric acid type of fermentation, EGSB3 (startup mode: pretreated granular sludge as inoculum and regulated substrate concentration) was the most efficient one with shortest start-up time (13 days) and maximum hydrogen production (1.64 mol H2/mol glucose). EGSB1 (startup mode: pretreated flocculent sludge as inoculum and regulated substrate concentration) was started up in 27 days at 1.27 mol H2/mol glucose in maximum. While EGSB2 (startup mode: original granular sludge as inoculum and without regulating substrate concentration) took 46 days for start-up and the 1.6 mol H2/mol glucose hydrogen producing rate was obtained. After start-up, the dominant hydrogen production bacteria were Thermoanaerobacterium thermosaccharolyticum strain TG57 in three reactors. EGSB3 reactor owned the most proportion with 53.21 % than others. In all, mild pretreatment and regulating substrate concentration for granular sludge would be benefit for fast startup of thermophilic dark fermentation hydrogen production leading to shortest startup time, high hydrogen production efficiency and most functional microorganism.

中文翻译：

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嗜热暗发酵通过底物浓度调节和适度预处理接种物快速启动制氢


研究了加速嗜热暗发酵的启动将提高制氢效率。为寻找加速启动的有效方法并探讨接种类型对制氢系统的影响，本研究构建了 3 个采用不同启动模式的热热制氢 EGSB（膨胀颗粒污泥床）反应器，配备絮凝或颗粒污泥。在丁酸型发酵的 3 个反应器中，EGSB3 （启动模式：预处理颗粒污泥作为接种物并调节底物浓度） 是效率最高的反应器，启动时间最短 （13 天） 和最大产氢量 （1.64 mol H2/mol 葡萄糖）。EGSB1 （启动模式：预处理絮凝污泥作为接种物并调节底物浓度）在 27 天内以最大 1.27 mol H 2 /mol 葡萄糖启动。而 EGSB2 （启动模式：原始颗粒污泥作为接种物，不调节底物浓度）需要 46 天启动，获得了 1.6 mol H2/mol 葡萄糖产氢速率。启动后，3 个反应器中的优势产氢菌为热厌氧菌 TG57 菌株。EGSB3 反应器的占比最大，为 53.21%，高于其他反应器。总而言之，温和的预处理和调节颗粒污泥的底物浓度将有利于快速启动嗜热暗发酵制氢，从而实现最短的启动时间、高产氢效率和大多数功能性微生物。