Fermentative hydrogen production

Last updated

Fermentative hydrogen production is the fermentative conversion of organic substrates to H2. Hydrogen produced in this manner is often called biohydrogen. The conversion is effected by bacteria and protozoa, which employ enzymes. Fermentative hydrogen production is one of several anaerobic conversions.

Contents

Dark vs photofermentation

Dark fermentation reactions do not require light energy. These are capable of constantly producing hydrogen from organic compounds throughout the day and night. Typically these reactions are coupled to the formation of carbon dioxide or formate. Important reactions that result in hydrogen production start with glucose, which is converted to acetic acid: [1]

C6H12O6 + 2 H2O → 2 CH3CO2H + 2 CO2 + 4 H2

A related reaction gives formate instead of carbon dioxide:

C6H12O6 + 2 H2O → 2 CH3CO2H + 2 HCO2H + 2 H2

These reactions are exergonic by 216 and 209 kcal/mol, respectively.

Using synthetic biology, bacteria can be genetically altered to enhance this reaction. [2] [3]

Photofermentation differs from dark fermentation, because it only proceeds in the presence of light. Electrohydrogenesis is used in microbial fuel cells.

Bacteria strains

For example, photo-fermentation with Rhodobacter sphaeroides SH2C can be employed to convert small molecular fatty acids into hydrogen. [4]

Enterobacter aerogenes is an outstanding hydrogen producer. It is an anaerobic facultative and mesophilic bacterium that is able to consume different sugars and in contrast to cultivation of strict anaerobes, no special operation is required to remove all oxygen from the fermenter. E. aerogenes has a short doubling time and high hydrogen productivity and evolution rate. Furthermore, hydrogen production by this bacterium is not inhibited at high hydrogen partial pressures; however, its yield is lower compared to strict anaerobes like Clostridia. A theoretical maximum of 4 mol H2/mol glucose can be produced by strict anaerobic bacteria. Facultative anaerobic bacteria such as E. aerogenes have a theoretical maximum yield of 2 mol H2/mol glucose. [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Obligate aerobe</span> Organism that requires oxygen to grow

An obligate aerobe is an organism that requires oxygen to grow. Through cellular respiration, these organisms use oxygen to metabolise substances, like sugars or fats, to obtain energy. In this type of respiration, oxygen serves as the terminal electron acceptor for the electron transport chain. Aerobic respiration has the advantage of yielding more energy than fermentation or anaerobic respiration, but obligate aerobes are subject to high levels of oxidative stress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aerobic organism</span> Organism that thrives in an oxygenated environment

An aerobic organism or aerobe is an organism that can survive and grow in an oxygenated environment. The ability to exhibit aerobic respiration may yield benefits to the aerobic organism, as aerobic respiration yields more energy than anaerobic respiration. Energy production of the cell involves the synthesis of ATP by an enzyme called ATP synthase. In aerobic respiration, ATP synthase is coupled with an electron transport chain in which oxygen acts as a terminal electron acceptor. In July 2020, marine biologists reported that aerobic microorganisms (mainly), in "quasi-suspended animation", were found in organically poor sediments, up to 101.5 million years old, 250 feet below the seafloor in the South Pacific Gyre (SPG), and could be the longest-living life forms ever found.

An anaerobic organism or anaerobe is any organism that does not require molecular oxygen for growth. It may react negatively or even die if free oxygen is present. In contrast, an aerobic organism (aerobe) is an organism that requires an oxygenated environment. Anaerobes may be unicellular or multicellular. Most fungi are obligate aerobes, requiring oxygen to survive. However, some species, such as the Chytridiomycota that reside in the rumen of cattle, are obligate anaerobes; for these species, anaerobic respiration is used because oxygen will disrupt their metabolism or kill them. Deep waters of the ocean are a common anoxic environment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Facultative anaerobic organism</span> Beings that can respire with and without oxygen

A facultative anaerobic organism is an organism that makes ATP by aerobic respiration if oxygen is present, but is capable of switching to fermentation if oxygen is absent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Obligate anaerobe</span> Microorganism killed by normal atmospheric levels of oxygen

Obligate anaerobes are microorganisms killed by normal atmospheric concentrations of oxygen (20.95% O2). Oxygen tolerance varies between species, with some species capable of surviving in up to 8% oxygen, while others lose viability in environments with an oxygen concentration greater than 0.5%.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethanol fermentation</span> Biological process that produces ethanol and carbon dioxide as by-products

Ethanol fermentation, also called alcoholic fermentation, is a biological process which converts sugars such as glucose, fructose, and sucrose into cellular energy, producing ethanol and carbon dioxide as by-products. Because yeasts perform this conversion in the absence of oxygen, alcoholic fermentation is considered an anaerobic process. It also takes place in some species of fish where it provides energy when oxygen is scarce.

Acetogenesis is a process through which acetate is produced by prokaryote microorganisms either by the reduction of CO2 or by the reduction of organic acids, rather than by the oxidative breakdown of carbohydrates or ethanol, as with acetic acid bacteria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Butanediol fermentation</span>

2,3-Butanediol fermentation is anaerobic fermentation of glucose with 2,3-butanediol as one of the end products. The overall stoichiometry of the reaction is

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mixed acid fermentation</span> Biochemical conversion of six-carbon sugars into acids in bacteria

In biochemistry, mixed acid fermentation is the metabolic process by which a six-carbon sugar is converted into a complex and variable mixture of acids. It is an anaerobic (non-oxygen-requiring) fermentation reaction that is common in bacteria. It is characteristic for members of the Enterobacteriaceae, a large family of Gram-negative bacteria that includes E. coli.

Microbial metabolism is the means by which a microbe obtains the energy and nutrients it needs to live and reproduce. Microbes use many different types of metabolic strategies and species can often be differentiated from each other based on metabolic characteristics. The specific metabolic properties of a microbe are the major factors in determining that microbe's ecological niche, and often allow for that microbe to be useful in industrial processes or responsible for biogeochemical cycles.

Hydrogen gas is produced by several industrial methods. In 2022 less than 1% of hydrogen production was low-carbon. Fossil fuels are the dominant source of hydrogen, for example by steam reforming of natural gas. Other methods of hydrogen production include biomass gasification and methane pyrolysis. Methane pyrolysis and water electrolysis can use any source of electricity including renewable energy. Underground hydrogen is extracted.

In biology, syntrophy, syntrophism, or cross-feeding is the cooperative interaction between at least two microbial species to degrade a single substrate. This type of biological interaction typically involves the transfer of one or more metabolic intermediates between two or more metabolically diverse microbial species living in close proximity to each other. Thus, syntrophy can be considered an obligatory interdependency and a mutualistic metabolism between different microbial species, wherein the growth of one partner depends on the nutrients, growth factors, or substrates provided by the other(s).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Biohydrogen</span> Hydrogen that is produced biologically

Biohydrogen is H2 that is produced biologically. Interest is high in this technology because H2 is a clean fuel and can be readily produced from certain kinds of biomass, including biological waste. Furthermore some photosynthetic microorganisms are capable to produce H2 directly from water splitting using light as energy source.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fermentation</span> Metabolic process producing energy in the absence of oxygen

Fermentation is a metabolic process that produces chemical changes in organic substances through the action of enzymes. In biochemistry, it is broadly defined as the extraction of energy from carbohydrates in the absence of oxygen. In food production, it may more broadly refer to any process in which the activity of microorganisms brings about a desirable change to a foodstuff or beverage. The science of fermentation is known as zymology.

The Pasteur effect describes how available oxygen inhibits ethanol fermentation, driving yeast to switch toward aerobic respiration for increased generation of the energy carrier adenosine triphosphate (ATP). More generally, in the medical literature, the Pasteur effect refers to how the cellular presence of oxygen causes in cells a decrease in the rate of glycolysis and also a suppression of lactate accumulation. The effect occurs in animal tissues, as well as in microorganisms belonging to the fungal kingdom.

Klebsiella aerogenes, previously known as Enterobacter aerogenes, is a Gram-negative, oxidase-negative, catalase-positive, citrate-positive, indole-negative, rod-shaped bacterium. Capable of motility via peritrichous flagella, the bacterium is approximately 1–3 microns in length.

Dark fermentation is the fermentative conversion of organic substrate to biohydrogen. It is a complex process manifested by diverse groups of bacteria, involving a series of biochemical reactions using three steps similar to anaerobic conversion. Dark fermentation differs from photofermentation in that it proceeds without the presence of light.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Photofermentation</span>

Photofermentation is the fermentative conversion of organic substrate to biohydrogen manifested by a diverse group of photosynthetic bacteria by a series of biochemical reactions involving three steps similar to anaerobic conversion. Photofermentation differs from dark fermentation because it only proceeds in the presence of light.

<i>Thermotoga maritima</i> Species of bacterium

Thermotoga maritima is a hyperthermophilic, anaerobic organism that is a member of the order Thermotogales. T. maritima is well known for its ability to produce hydrogen (clean energy) and it is the only fermentative bacterium that has been shown to produce Hydrogen more than the Thauer limit (>4 mol H2 /mol glucose). It employs [FeFe]-hydrogenases to produce hydrogen gas (H2) by fermenting many different types of carbohydrates.

Biological methanation (also: biological hydrogen methanation (BHM) or microbiological methanation) is a conversion process to generate methane by means of highly specialized microorganisms (Archaea) within a technical system. This process can be applied in a power-to-gas system to produce biomethane and is appreciated as an important storage technology for variable renewable energy in the context of energy transition. This technology was successfully implemented at a first power-to-gas plant of that kind in the year 2015.

References

  1. Thauer, R. K. (1998). "Biochemistry of Methanogenesis: a Tribute to Marjory Stephenson". Microbiology. 144: 2377–2406. doi: 10.1099/00221287-144-9-2377 . PMID   9782487.
  2. Synthetic biology and hydrogen
  3. Edwards, Chris (19 June 2008). "Synthetic biology aims to solve energy conundrum". The Guardian. London.
  4. "High hydrogen yield from a two-step process of dark-and photo-fermentation of sucrose". Archived from the original on 2012-01-25. Retrieved 2008-09-07.
  5. Asadi, Nooshin; Zilouei, Hamid (March 2017). "Optimization of organosolv pretreatment of rice straw for enhanced biohydrogen production using Enterobacter aerogenes". Bioresource Technology. 227: 335–344. Bibcode:2017BiTec.227..335A. doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2016.12.073. PMID   28042989.