Prototype Bioreactor for Hydrogen Production

19 January 2005

Infectech, a Pennsylvania biotech company, is developing a prototype bioreactor to produce hydrogen with the Department of Environmental Science and Engineering of Gannon University in Erie, PA.

Originally founded in 1989 for the development of diagnostic kits for infectious diseases, Infectech is diversifying into technologies for the production of alternative sources of fuel and the remediation of toxic materials.

There are two basic approaches to the microbial production of hydrogen: fermentative and photosynthetic. Clostridia species, methanogens and archeabacteria are known fermentative producers of hydrogen, while purple sulfur bacteria and green algae are examples of photosynthetic producers.

Infectech proposes to use its patented bacterial culturing methods with Clostridia for the hydrogen production.