Biohydrogen Production from Pineapple Biomass Residue using Immobilized Co-culture of Clostridium sporogenes and Enterobacter aerogenes

In this study, the co-culture bacteria of Clostridium sporogenes and Enterobacter aerogenes were immobilized onto two different support materials: loofah sponge and activated carbon (AC) sponge. Both immobilized co-cultures were used in the batch fermentation of pineapple residues for biohydrogen production. The performance of both immobilized loofah and AC sponge was compared with free cell (FC) co-culture in terms of biohydrogen cumulative production and production rate within 48 hr fermentation time. It was found that the immobilized co-culture on AC sponge produced the highest rate of biohydrogen of 35.9 mmol/hr/Lsubstrate compared to loofah and FC co-culture after 24 hr fermentation. However, in terms of preservation of biohydrogen production rate, loofah as a support showed better consistency in terms of performance for 48 hr fermentation time compared to AC. This study also showed that the pH of substrate has a relation to the optical density (OD600) reduction of the bacteria, which could affect biohydrogen production rate.