[Characteristics of microbial community in biohydrogen production from alkali pretreated sludge]

In order to reveal the characteristics of microbial community in biohydrogen production from alkali pretreated sludge, the biohydrogen fermentation was conducted under acidic condition (pH 5) and alkali condition (pH 11) using alkali pretreated sludge from three wastewater treatment plants with different process, respectively. The results indicate that, although the sludge from different sources, protein is main component in the soluble organic matter released from the three sludge samples by the alkali pretreatment and carbohydrate is only 15% -16% of protein. A high hydrogen yield occurs at the condition of initial pH 11, a maximal hydrogen yield of up to 31.9 mL/g, while the hydrogen yield decreases and hydrogen consumption occurs at the condition of initial pH 5. The analysis using PCR-DGGE technique based on 16S rDNA sequences with the universal primers (F338GC and R534) show that the microbial community in the biohydrogen production process from various sludge structure is significant different, and the microbial population appear a phenomenon of turnover growth and decline and the amount of dominant microbial community present a increasing trend.