Simulation of Biohydrogen Production by Sequential Dark-Photo Fermentation of Pineapple Waste

Abstract

Biomass from agro-industrial waste represents a sustainable resource for bioenergy production. JUS DELICE, a pineapple processing factory in Togo generates large streams of waste but relies solely on composting as waste valorization pathway. As a result, the energy potential of the generated waste is still unexplored. On the other hand, Aspen Plus is a software widely used for the simulation of thermochemical processes. However, the software rooted in thermochemical processes is very limited in the simulation of biochemical processes due to the lack of built-in models for microbial kinetics, metabolic conversions, and inhibition effects. This study investigated biohydrogen production using pineapple peels collected from JUS DELICE through three valorization pathways: dark fermentation, photo fermentation and the integrated sequential process. The peels were characterized through ultimate analysis, proximate analysis and fiber content and the data from characterization was used in Aspen Plus to simulate biohydrogen production under mesophilic conditions. The results revealed a good potential of pineapple peels for biohydrogen production with very high volatile solid content of 94.99% and high carbohydrates content on dry matter basis. It was also found that the integrated sequential process significantly improved the conversion process with a cumulative biohydrogen yield of 798.7 𝑚𝑙/𝑔𝑉𝑆 and a heating value conversion efficiency of 54.36%.