초록
<P>Bio‐hydrogen was produced from different agro‐industrial wastes by <I>Hypocrea lixii</I> SS1 isolated from fouled soil. The alkaline pre‐treatment of sunflower oil sludge resulted in a bio‐hydrogen potential of 405 mL H<SUB>2</SUB>/g volatile solids (VS). The role of sunflower oil sludge on the bio‐hydrogen production by <I>H. lixii</I> SS1 was investigated. It was inferred that xylose enhances the bio‐hydrogen production when compared to other monomeric carbohydrates in sunflower oil sludge. A maximum bio‐hydrogen potential of 430 mL H<SUB>2</SUB>/g VS was achieved with 7.2 mg/mL of xylose formation for a 168 h incubation period. The bio‐hydrogen production was carried out under optimized conditions of 80 g/L inoculum, pH 5 and 50 °C, and a maximum bio‐hydrogen potential of 494.26 mL H<SUB>2</SUB>/g VS was obtained. A cumulative bio‐hydrogen production of 450 mL was achieved with modified Gompertz model. The maximum chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency (93%) and maximum fermentative products (2182.60 mg COD/L) with total volatile fatty acids of 2032.82 mg COD/L were obtained when 120 and 80 g/L of inoculum were added to the reactor, respectively. Hence, enzymatic hydrolysis led to a marked improvement in the overall bio‐hydrogen yield of 400–500 mL H<SUB>2</SUB>/g VS suggesting the potential use of sunflower oil sludge for bio‐hydrogen production in a cost effective manner.</P>