Producción de biohidrógeno a partir de lodo activado desintegrado por radiación gamma.

Abstract

In this research, the production of biohydrogen from activated sludge residues disintegrated by gamma radiation was studied; 12 liters of sludge and 16 liters of residual water were collected from the Jean`s Fashion Color dye Factory of the canton of Pelileo, province of Tungurahua. The sludge was subjected to a pre-treatment based on weight control, screening, refrigeration and irradiation and the residual water samples only for cooling. Twelve samples of sludge of 500g each were formed, to be irradiated at different doses: 600 Gy, 350 Gy, 100 Gy and 0 Gy respectively, he last group being the control, the irradiation was carried out with the irradiator J.L.SHEPARD model 109 having a source of 60 Co. Subsequently, 12 reactors were constructed with a mixture of 500g of irradiated sludge and 450 ml of residual water; 8 for microbial electrolysis cells (MEC) and four reactors for dark fermentation (DF), as key instruments for the biohydrogen production. The amount of hydrogen gas produced was measured by the MQ-8 hydrogen sensor; the data collected were communicated to the laptop through an Arduino Uno. The results showed that the highest biohydrogen production was a dose of 350 Gy, with a concentration of 43,922 ppm (MEC) and 56,929 ppm (DF), concluding that activated sludge residues through gamma irradiation could be used to produce biohydrogen in a renewable and low-cost way. Finally, it is recommended to apply this study in Ecuador with superior doses to the mentioned ones.