Influence of organic carbon source on hydrogen production and nutrient removal by microbial consortium in anaerobic photobioreactors

Microalgae and cyanobacteria interactions with autochthonous bacteria have been demonstrated as a feasible alternative for biohydrogen production and wastewater treatment. In the present study, hydrogen production and nutrient removal from different organic carbon sources (glycerin, sucrose, glucose and organic acids, and pentose-rich liquor) by microbial consortia through biophotolysis and photofermentation in batch anaerobic bioreactors have been evaluated. Chlamydomonas sp. strains (CC425, CC4169, and CHL02) demonstrated higher hydrogen production from sucrose-enriched wastewater, 4.33 ± 0.25 mmol H2 L−1 (CC425) and 1.02 ± 0.25 mmol H2 L−1 (CHL02), and better organic carbon removal, 66.0 % (CC4169). Anabaena sp. (UTEX1448) yielded better nitrogen removal (average of 31.6 %) and promising results of hydrogen production from pentose-rich liquor. The results showed that the organic carbon source influenced hydrogen production due to the occurrence of different metabolic pathways by microbial consortia and that this production can be associated with the biological wastewater treatment.