A thought on CO2 production with yeast
- Thread starter McJosh13
- Start date
Okay, here's the results of my test:
Solution: 3 cups sugar, 1 tsp bread machine yeast, 1 teaspoon baking soda, drop of Prime
2L bottle of solution running into a 2L bottle of water (bubble counter/wash bottle) and gas running into a coffee mug full of tap water.
This solution usually lasts me at least 4 days at a good consistant rate.
Started it up last night and as of this AM was running at 14 bpm.
Added a fresh cup of water from the tap, pH 7.5
Added ¼ tsp H2O2 at 10am
As of 12pm, 2 hours later:
pH ~6.5
2 bpm
The bubble rate dropped from 14 to 2 bpm. IMO it killed off most of the yeast in the bottle.
Not viable to me.
Roan
Solution: 3 cups sugar, 1 tsp bread machine yeast, 1 teaspoon baking soda, drop of Prime
2L bottle of solution running into a 2L bottle of water (bubble counter/wash bottle) and gas running into a coffee mug full of tap water.
This solution usually lasts me at least 4 days at a good consistant rate.
Started it up last night and as of this AM was running at 14 bpm.
Added a fresh cup of water from the tap, pH 7.5
Added ¼ tsp H2O2 at 10am
As of 12pm, 2 hours later:
pH ~6.5
2 bpm
The bubble rate dropped from 14 to 2 bpm. IMO it killed off most of the yeast in the bottle.
Not viable to me.
Roan
Oxygen radicals are good disinfectants, that is why dosages are so key. Spot treatment of algae in planted tanks can be done w/H2O2, but shrimp are at high risk, the fish at moderate risk.
I do not know "safe" levels (no doubt highly varaible with the level of organics, and in jello culture that would be massive, on sugar and yeast only the organics I would expect to be lower). But dosage and re-feed intervals will be key - if the culture has to shift gears back and forth it will never do much.
I don't hold a lot of hope for thr technique myself...
I don't hold a lot of hope for thr technique myself...
I would try a different strain of yeast. Bread machine or baking yeast isn't going to survive long, once the sugars start getting converted over to alcohol. The alcohol content will kill the yeast.
Use brewers yeast. You can pick this up either at local home brew stores, or on the internet. These strains of yeast are developed to react differently with the alcohol. They will survive longer, and will continue to produce C02 as a by-product.
I read in an early post about the number of bubbles per minute, and that it took 24 hours before the process started. This is typical. Some firmentations will take up to 72 hours before the really get going.
Some things to make note of:
Make sure you have a very good seal! Any leaks, and you will not get the CO2 to build up to where you can make use of it.
Use brewers yeast, as it can handle the alcohol that will be produced.
Use water that is about the temp of your tank. Too cold, and the process won't start. Too warm, and you'll kill the yeast.
The firmentation process will only last so long, and then you'll have to start over again. Once all the sugars have been converted, you will need to start over fresh. I would not suggest simply dumping more sugar into what you have started. Eventually, you're going to have one heck of a mess.
Joe
Use brewers yeast. You can pick this up either at local home brew stores, or on the internet. These strains of yeast are developed to react differently with the alcohol. They will survive longer, and will continue to produce C02 as a by-product.
I read in an early post about the number of bubbles per minute, and that it took 24 hours before the process started. This is typical. Some firmentations will take up to 72 hours before the really get going.
Some things to make note of:
Make sure you have a very good seal! Any leaks, and you will not get the CO2 to build up to where you can make use of it.
Use brewers yeast, as it can handle the alcohol that will be produced.
Use water that is about the temp of your tank. Too cold, and the process won't start. Too warm, and you'll kill the yeast.
The firmentation process will only last so long, and then you'll have to start over again. Once all the sugars have been converted, you will need to start over fresh. I would not suggest simply dumping more sugar into what you have started. Eventually, you're going to have one heck of a mess.
Joe
With spring break coming up next week I plan on finally testing this method. The experiment I have in mind so far is to set up two separate 5 gal buckets each with a 1 liter bottle/co2 generator attached. One bottle will contain the regular yeast/sugar/protein mix and the other will have the same formulation with H2O2 added. They will both be hooked up to a bubble counter and both the amount of bubbles and the ph/kh of the water will be tested. The only problem I have right now is how I will dissolve the CO2 in the water, seeing as I don’t want to buy any new power heads to power reactors. Maybe an inverted cup to catch the co2 and let it diffuse with the water will be enough?
The goals of this experiment are to:
1. Count the difference in the # of bubbles being produced by the two formulas and find out if there actually is more CO2 being produced through testing of the ph/kh.
2. Find out how long it takes for all of the H202 to be converted into H20+02 and thus how often it must be added to the solution.
3. Find out if the production of O2 can offset the production of ethyl alcohol thus making the formula extremely long lasting, requiring only the addition of more sugar and H202 over time.
The goals of this experiment are to:
1. Count the difference in the # of bubbles being produced by the two formulas and find out if there actually is more CO2 being produced through testing of the ph/kh.
2. Find out how long it takes for all of the H202 to be converted into H20+02 and thus how often it must be added to the solution.
3. Find out if the production of O2 can offset the production of ethyl alcohol thus making the formula extremely long lasting, requiring only the addition of more sugar and H202 over time.
McJosh,
I'm going to leave this to you 'cause I just don't have the time to devote to it and you know a wack more about this than I do.
Oh, of interest is the fact that about 8-12 hours after the bubble rate dropped to 4 bpm, it went BACK UP to 14 bpm.
So, if anything the H2O2 that I added interrupted the yeast CO2 production and didn't just kill the yeast.
Roan
I'm going to leave this to you 'cause I just don't have the time to devote to it and you know a wack more about this than I do.
Oh, of interest is the fact that about 8-12 hours after the bubble rate dropped to 4 bpm, it went BACK UP to 14 bpm.
So, if anything the H2O2 that I added interrupted the yeast CO2 production and didn't just kill the yeast.
Roan
It did kill the yeast just not a 100%. Any oxygen added by the H2O2 will bubble out rather quickly and be gone within an hour or so. The yeast then have a lot of nutrients to feed on (sugar + dead yeast) and can rapidly mutiply replacing the killed yeast and causing CO2 production to go up again.
I've just like to repeat that if you add oxygen to your yeast reactor (or H2O2 which liberates O2) your yeast will use the oxygen, and will move from A to B.
A: very rapid intack of sugar funneling it into alcohol and CO2.
B: slower intake of sugar and using most of this sugar for biosynthesis (cells "stuff").
when the oxygen is used up, the yeast will once again enter fermentation and your will get your co2.
If you really want to increase your CO2 reactor, there is a very simple way: But a $1 packet of Champagne yeast, or some other yeast used for wine. This type of yeast can tolerate alcohol levels up to 15% before it dies. Bakers yeast is only about 7%.
Double your CO2 reactor for a dollar. And you can reuse this yeast too, by innoculating a new bottle before the old bottle is spent.
A: very rapid intack of sugar funneling it into alcohol and CO2.
B: slower intake of sugar and using most of this sugar for biosynthesis (cells "stuff").
when the oxygen is used up, the yeast will once again enter fermentation and your will get your co2.
If you really want to increase your CO2 reactor, there is a very simple way: But a $1 packet of Champagne yeast, or some other yeast used for wine. This type of yeast can tolerate alcohol levels up to 15% before it dies. Bakers yeast is only about 7%.
Double your CO2 reactor for a dollar. And you can reuse this yeast too, by innoculating a new bottle before the old bottle is spent.
