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Updated: May 9, 2026

Evaluation of Integrated Anaerobic Digestion and Hydrothermal Carbonization for Bioenergy Production
Published on: June 15, 2014
Effect of ozone pretreatment on hydrogen production from barley straw
Jiangning Wu1, Farhad Ein-Mozaffari, Simant Upreti
1Department of Chemical Engineering, Ryerson University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. j3wu@ryerson.ca
Abstract:
Application of ozone technology to lignocellulosic biohydrogen production was explored with a barley straw. Ozone pretreatment effectively degraded the straw lignin and increased reducing sugar yield. A simultaneous enzyme hydrolysis and dark fermentation experiment was conducted using a mixed anaerobic consortium together with saccharification enzymes. Both untreated and ozonated samples produced hydrogen. Compared to the untreated group, hydrogen produced by the groups ozonated for 15, 30, 45 and 90 min increased 99%, 133%, 166% and 94%, respectively. Some inhibitory effect on hydrogen production was observed with the samples ozonated for 90 min, and the inhibition was on the fermentative microorganisms, not the saccharification enzymes. These results demonstrate that production of biohydrogen from barley straw, a lignocellulosic biomass, can be significantly enhanced by ozone pretreatment.
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