Language selection

Government of Canada / Gouvernement du Canada

Search

Performance of a Carboxydothermus hydrogenoformans gas lift reactor for syngas upgrading into hydrogen

From National Research Council Canada

AuthorSearch for: 1; Search for: 1
Affiliation
  1. National Research Council Canada. Energy, Mining and Environment
FormatText, Article
ConferenceBioenergy Australia 2013, November 25-26, 2013, Hunter Valley, NSW
Subjectcarboxydothermus hydrogenoformans; carbon monoxide; hydrogen; gas-lift bioreactor; continuous; gas-liquid mass transfer
Abstract
The conversion of carbon monoxide (CO) into hydrogen (H2) by a Carboxydothermus hydrogenoformans pure culture was investigated and optimized in a 35 L gas-lift reactor. The reactor was operated with a continuous supply of gas for 3 months. Reactor performance was evaluated under various operational conditions, such as gas recirculation rates (0.3 and 1.5 L•min-1), CO feeding rates (from 0.05 to 0.46 mol•L-1reactor•day–1) and bacto-peptone addition to the medium. Overall, the H2 yields were constant at 95±1% and 82±1% (molH2•mol–1CO) with growth supported by peptone and unsupported respectively, regardless of the operational conditions tested. At the highest biomass density, a maximum CO conversion activity of 0.17 molCO•L–1reactor•day-1 or 3.79 LCO•L-1reactor•day-1 was achieved. The ratio of gas recirculation over CO feed flow rates (QR:Qin) was the major parameter that impacted both biological activity and volumetric gas-liquid mass transfer. The CO conversion performance of the gas lift reactor was kinetically limited over a QR:Qin ratio of 40, and mass transfer limited below that ratio, resulting in a maximum conversion efficiency of 90.4±0.3% and a biological activity of 2.7±0.4 molCO•g– 1VSS•day–1. Overall, the CO conversion performance in the gas-lift reactor was limited by a low cell density, typical of C. hydrogenoformans planktonic growth. This limitation was found to be the most restrictive factor for higher CO loading rates.
LanguageEnglish
Peer reviewedNo
NRC numberNRC-EME-55634
EME-MTL-0020
EME-MTL-0023
NPARC number21275981
Export citationExport as RIS
Report a correctionReport a correction (opens in a new tab)
Record identifierea827aa1-31ce-46ee-ac3a-f1d1b445dd1b
Record created2015-08-25
Record modified2020-04-22
Date modified: