Bio-H₂ production using de-oiled cake as cheap nitrogen source and subsequent electricity generation by hybrid system

Bio-H₂ was produced by Enterobacter sp., using de-oiled cake (DOC) as nitrogen source and was subsequently converted to electricity by a hybrid platform of proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEM-FC) and photo voltaic (PV) cells. Taguchi design was used to maximize H₂ production on using different DOC concentrations, pH, pre-treatment time and agitation speeds. Highest H₂ production of 3.42 ± 0.26 L L⁻¹ was observed at pH 6.0, 50 g L⁻¹ DOC concentration, 20 min pre-treatment time and 200 rpm agitation speed, respectively. In continuous process maximum rate of H₂ production of 854 ± 20 mL L⁻¹ h⁻¹ (molasses), 580 ± 22 mL L⁻¹ h⁻¹ (glucose) and 640 ± 22 mL L⁻¹ h⁻¹ (starchy wastewater), respectively was observed at 0.2 h⁻¹ dilution rate. The hybrid system showed maximum current (I), voltage (V) and power (P) of 0.035 mA, 11 V and 385 mW, respectively.