Detection of hydrogen gas-producing anaerobes in refuse-derived fuel (RDF) pellets

Abstract

Recently, we reported that refuse-derived fuel (RDF) pellets contain a relatively high number of viable bacterial cells and that these bacteria generate heat and hydrogen gas during fermentation under wet conditions. In this study we analyzed bacterial cell numbers of RDF samples manufactured with different concentrations of calcium hydroxide, which is usually added to waste materials for the prevention of rotting of food wastes and the acceleration of drying of solid wastes, and determined the amount of hydrogen gas produced by them under wet conditions. Furthermore, we analyzed microflora of the RDF samples before and during fermentation by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis of 16S rDNA followed by sequencing. We found that the RDF samples contained various kinds of clostridia capable of producing hydrogen gas.