ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Biohydrogen and Biomethane (Biogas) Production
in the Consecutive Stages of Anaerobic
Digestion of Molasses
Anna Detman1, Aleksandra Chojnacka1, Mieczysław Błaszczyk2, Wiktor Kaźmierczak1, Jan Piotrowski3, Anna Sikora1
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1Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences,
Pawińskiego 5a, 02-106 Warsaw, Poland
2Faculty of Agriculture and Biology, Warsaw University of Life Sciences,
Nowoursynowska 159, 02-776 Warsaw, Poland
3Krajowa Spółka Cukrowa S.A. Biuro w Warszawie,
Jana Pawła II 12, 00-124 Warsaw, Poland
Submission date: 2016-10-27
Final revision date: 2016-12-28
Acceptance date: 2016-12-29
Online publication date: 2017-05-08
Publication date: 2017-05-26
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2017;26(3):1023-1029
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ABSTRACT
Anaerobic digestion, whose final products are methane and carbon dioxide, has been used to produce
biogas from waste biomass as an alternative energy source. For the purpose of innovative, modern technologies
based on microbial processes, it is desirable to separate the hydrogen- (hydrolysis and acidogenesis) and
methane-yielding (acetogenesis and methanogenesis) stages of anaerobic digestion to respectively favor
the production of hydrogen and methane under controlled conditions. Previously, we developed a benchscale
(3- and 3.5-litre bioreactors) two-stage anaerobic digestion system producing hydrogen (in stage 1)
and methane (in stage 2) from sucrose-rich by-products of the sugar beet refining industry as the primary
energy substrates under mesophilic conditions. Recently, the two-stage system for hydrogen and methane
production has been successfully scaled up 10-fold (a pilot scale) and currently operates in one of the Polish
sugar factories. The efficiency of hydrogen and methane production were directly proportional to the scale
of installation. The obtained results led to the development objectives of further research that the end result
will be an innovative solution for the sugar factory as a producer of gaseous biofuels.