Bio-hydrolysis and bio-hydrogen production from food waste by thermophilic and hyperthermophilic anaerobic process.

High-temperature pretreatment plays a key role in the anaerobic digestion of food waste (FW). However, the suitable temperature is not yet determined. In this work, a long-term experiment was conducted to compare hydrolysis, acidogenesis, acetogenesis, and hydrogen production at 55°C and 70°C, using real FW in CSTR reactors. The results obtained indicated that acidification was the rate-limiting step at both temperatures with similar process kinetics characterizations. However, the thermophilic pretreatment was more advantageous than the hyperthermophilic with suspended solids solubilization of 47.7% and 29.5% and total VFA vs. soluble COD ratio of 15.2% and 4.9%, for thermophilic and hyperthermophilic treatment, respectively, with a hydrolytic reaction time (HRT) of 10days and an OLR of 14kgCOD/m(3)d. Moreover, stable hydrogen yield (70.7ml-H2/gVSin) and content in off gas (58.6%) was achieved at HRT 5days, pH 5.5, and temperature of 55°C, as opposed to 70°C.