Biochemical kinetic characteristics of photo-fermentative hydrogen production were experimentally and numerically investigated to optimize the photo-fermentation hydrogen-producing process in this work. It is found that a maximum specific growth rate of 0.26 h(-1) was achieved under the optimal conditions of illumination intensity 6000 lux, 30 degrees C culture temperature and pH 7.0 of culture medium. These experimental results also led to an empirical formula of the maximum specific microbial growth rate (mu(max)) as a function of illumination intensity, pH and temperature. With the empirical formula, the modified Monod equation along with the kinetic equations for biomass growth, glucose consumption and hydrogen production is then developed to simulate the photofermentation hydrogen-producing process. The modeling results are in good agreements with the experimental data, indicating that the developed kinetic models are able to objectively describe the characteristics of hydrogen production by PSB under different culture conditions. Copyright (C) 2011, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.