Sustained microbial production of hydrogen gas from diluted fruit juice

Abstract

The present invention provides an apparatus and method for the production of hydrogen based on the capture of metabolic by-products of hydrogen-producing microbacteria, in which a bioreactor is maintained in an environment conducive to the growth of hydrogen-producing microbacteria and the production of hydrogen and at the same time is restrictive to the growth of undesirable microorganisms such as methanogens and the production of methane. The present invention utilizes concentrated growth of hydrogen-producing microbacteria such as Klebsiella oxytoca. The invention provides a simple and cost-effective way to produce hydrogen by selectively harnessing hydrogen-producing microbacteria utilizing glucose-based solutions while substantially eliminating methane-producing microbacteria.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.