Consolidated bioprocessing of hydrogen production from agave biomass by Clostridium acetobutylicum and bovine ruminal fluid

The biological production of H-2 represents a renewable and eco-friendly energy alternative compared to fossil fuels. However, its production from lignocellulose involves the use of expensive enzymatic complexes. In the present work, the production of H-2 from pretreated agave biomass was evaluated by means of a Consolidated Bioprocess (CBP). This strategy was carried through the interaction of cellulose-degrading microorganisms obtained from bovine ruminal fluid (BRF) capable of enhancing H-2 production by Clostridium acetobutylicum. The results obtained show the capacity of BRF to hydrolyze the acid pretreated agave, improving the production of H-2 in the experiments where the inoculum of Clostridium was greater. According to the results, production of H-2 is significantly affected by the increase of the solids loading, obtaining a maximum H-2 production at a 10% of solids loading, pH 5.5 and 35 degrees C, representing a yield of 150 L of H-2 per Kg of biomass in 264 h. (C) 2019 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.