Effect of seed sludge on the startup of biohydrogen producing reactor with mixed strains of cellulose biomass

The effect of different sludge on biohydrogen producing by anaerobic fermentation was investigated by a continuous flow stirred tank biofilm reactor (CSTBR) used as an anaerobic fermentation biohydrogen producing reactor and corn stalks dealt by alkali treatment of 0.5% NaOH solution selected as substrate. According to operating efficiency and microbial community, we would obtain the best startup sludge from cow manure, septic tank sludge, and nitrification sludge, which were separately cultured under the condition of aeration 7 days. Result demonstrated the reactor started with cow manure had better performance than the other two kinds of seed sludge; it would take shorter startup time in the start-up process. After the successful start-up, the reactor with cow manure as seed sludge formed ethanol-type fermentation, the biofilm structure was more uniform, the microbial community composition was more abundant, and its volatile solid (VS) removal rate and the hydrogen production were 10.2% and 11.64 L d(-1) higher than the reactor with septic tank sediment as startup seed sludge, respectively, 20.4% and 23.78 L d(-1) higher than the reactor with nitrification sludge as startup seed sludge, respectively. Under the same biohydrogen production and start-up condition, cow manure as startup seed sludge is the best choice for biohydrogen production.