A Mechanistic Model for Hydrogen Production in an AnMBR Treating High Strength Wastewater

In the global race to produce green hydrogen, wastewater-to-H₂ is a sustainable alternative that remains unexploited. Efficient technologies for wastewater-to-H₂ are still in their developmental stages, and urgent process intensification is required. In our study, a mechanistic model was developed to characterize hydrogen production in an AnMBR treating high-strength wastewater (COD > 1000 mg/L). Two aspects differentiate our model from existing literature: First, the model input is a multi-substrate wastewater that includes fractions of proteins, carbohydrates, and lipids. Second, the model integrates the ADM1 model with physical/biochemical processes that affect membrane performance (e.g., membrane fouling). The model includes mass balances of 27 variables in a transient state, where metabolites, extracellular polymeric substances, soluble microbial products, and surface membrane density were included. Model results showed the hydrogen production rate was higher when treating amino acids and sugar-rich influents, which is strongly related to higher EPS generation during the digestion of these metabolites. The highest H₂ production rate for amino acid-rich influents was 6.1 LH₂/L-d; for sugar-rich influents was 5.9 LH₂/L-d; and for lipid-rich influents was 0.7 LH₂/L-d. Modeled membrane fouling and backwashing cycles showed extreme behaviors for amino- and fatty-acid-rich substrates. Our model helps to identify operational constraints for H₂ production in AnMBRs, providing a valuable tool for the design of fermentative/anaerobic MBR systems toward energy recovery.