초록
<P><B>Abstract</B></P> <P>To overcome nitrogen and iron deficiency in the organic fraction of municipal solid waste, amino acids and ferric oxide were separately added in the feedstock to evaluate their effect on hydrogen production. Furthermore, synergic effect of amino acids and ferric oxide on hydrogen production was evaluated. The co-culture of <I>E</I>. <I>coli</I> and <I>Enterobacter aerogenes</I> was used in the present study. The amino acids were applied in the concentration range of 1.0, 2.5, 5.0, 7.5 and 10.0 g/L while ferric oxide was used in the concentration range of 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 100, 150, 200 and 500 mg/L. Modified Gompertz model was used to analyze cumulative hydrogen production (P), maximum hydrogen production rate (Rmax) and lag phases (λ). The results exhibited that the hydrogen production was positively affected by each amino acid at every concentration applied. Application of alanine resulted in the highest cumulative and volumetric hydrogen production of 685.4 ± 10.1 mL and 1.9561L<SUB>H2</SUB>/L<SUB>substrate</SUB> respectively which increased to 872.5 ± 10.1 mL and 2.492L<SUB>H2</SUB>/L<SUB>substrate</SUB> for ferric oxide addition along with alanine. COD removal and VFA generation were positively affected by the synergic effect of amino acid and ferric oxide.</P> <P><B>Highlights</B></P> <P> <UL> <LI> Effect of amino acids and ferric oxide on hydrogen production was evaluated. </LI> <LI> Application of ferric oxide along with amino acids exhibited a significant improvement in hydrogen production. </LI> <LI> A maximum hydrogen yield of 58.7 mL H<SUB>2</SUB>/gCarbo<SUB>initial</SUB> was achieved when alanine was applied along with the ferric oxide. </LI> </UL> </P>