In this study, palm oil mill effluent (POME) was used as the substrate for biohydrogen production. Heat-treated
POME sludge acclimated with POME incubated at 37°C for 24 hours was used as seed culture. Preliminary screening on
the effects of inocula sizes, heat treatment, substrate concentration and pH of incubation by using a factorial design (FD)
were conducted under mesophilic condition (37°C) using a serum vial (160 mL). The experimental results from two-level
FD showed that pH and Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) of POME significantly affected biohydrogen production. Optimizations
of the specific hydrogen production (Ps) and the hydrogen production rate (Rm) were achieved by using a central
composite design (CCD). The maximum Ps of 272 mL H2/g carbohydrate was obtained under optimum conditions of
pH 5.75 and substrate concentration of 80 g/L. The maximum Rm of 98 mL H2/h was calculated under the optimum conditions
of pH 5.98 and substrate concentration of 80 g/L. The optimized conditions obtained were subjected to a confirmation
run and it showed reproducible data with a Ps of 226 mL H2/g carbohydrate and Rm of 72 mL H2/h.
Simultaneous effects of pH and substrate concentration on hydrogen production by acidogenic fermentation
