Life-cycle analysis of biohydrogen production via dark-photo fermentation from wheat straw

This study presents a life-cycle analysis using energy conversion characteristics as an evaluation index to assess the feasibility of this production method. The results indicate that for a system processing 1000 kg/h of wheat straw, the addition of 12000 kg/h of 2 wt% H2SO4 and 120 kg/h of CH3COONa yields 340,000 L/h of H2 and 348.6 kW of electricity. The energy conversion efficiency from the feedstock to the product is 21.4 %, while the efficiency from the hydrolysate to the product is 62.2 %. The total CO2 emission is 27.1 kg/h. Variations in the hydrolysate have the most significant impact on energy conversion efficiency. This study explores the feasibility of industrial-scale biohydrogen production via dark-photo fermentation from wheat straw and analyzes the energy characteristic indices and the sensitivity of these indices to key parameters.