A microbial fuel cell (MFC) converts chemical energy, available in a bio-convertible substrate, directly into electricity. To achieve this, bacteria are used as a catalyst to convert substrate into electrons. Bacteria are very small organisms which can convert a huge variety of organic compounds into CO2, water and energy. The microorganisms use the produced energy to grow and to maintain there metabolism. However, by using a MFC we can harvest a part of this microbial energy in the form of electricity. For this project we will develop a new technology to create a biologically-based source of clean hydrogen gas. A two step biological process was introduced in which the microbes responsible for fermentation will be separated from that responsible for electricity production. In the first reactor we will use measures to prevent methanogens which will significantly degrade the hydrogen produced from fermentation. In the second reactor the fermentation end products was used to regenerate hydrogen using the technique of electrically-assisted microbial fuel cell. We will also examine the impact of elevated hydrogen gas production on microbial community structure (i.e. the presence of various hydrogen-consuming bacterial species in the reactor) and operating conditions.

A two-step biohydrogen production process with high hydrogen production and steady state condition will be invented using the technique of electrically-assisted microbial fuel cell. The reactor efficiency is hoped to increased by the high activity bacteria screening and regulation, reactor configuration design, the anode and cathode materials modification and operating condition optimization.