Effect of increased hydrogen partial pressure on the acetone-butanol fermentation by Clostridium acetobutylicum

Summary Elevated H₂ partial pressure in the acetone-butanol fermentation increased the butanol and ethanol yields on glucose by an average of 18% and 13%, respectively, while the respective yields of acetone and of the endogenous H₂ decreased by an average of 40% and 30%, and almost no effect was observed on the growth of the culture. The butanol to acetone ratio and the fraction of butanol in the total solvents were also increased with the H₂ pressure. There were no major differences in the observed pattern of change with pressurization at either t=0 or t=18 h. The results demonstrate the importance of H₂ partial pressure in the regulation of the C. acetobutylicum metabolism.     

A mass spectrometry membrane probe and practical problems associated with its application in fermentation processes

A sensor-type, multi-compound monitoring system was constructed to measure several substances dissolved in a culture medium by use of a membrane inlet system coupled with a low-cost quadrupole mass spectrometer. The membrane inlet system was shown to have higher sensitivity with an even faster response than a capillary inlet system. The system was able to monitor on-line gaseous (H₂, CO₂ and O₂) and volatile (ethanol, butanol, acetone, acetic acid and ethyl acetate) compounds at concentrations in a range suitable for fermentation process monitoring applications. The effects of temperature, agitation speed and pressure on measurements using the membrane inlet system were investigated. For volatile compound measurements, temperature and pressure had an effect on the response but the agitation speed did not. A high concentration of compounds caused measurement saturation due to the space charge effect, but this could be overcome by reducing the surface area of the membrane. The system was applied to the monitoring of ethanol in a yeast cultivation. Measurements were affected by CO₂ produced during the fermentation, but this could be compensated for by means of a linear empirical equation. The system demonstrated high potentiality for application to the on-line monitoring of multiple compounds in fermentation processes.     

Enhanced acetone-butanol fermentation using repeated fed-batch operation coupled with cell recycle by membrane and simultaneous removal of inhibitory products by adsorption

A novel acetone-butanol production process was developed which integrates a repeated fed-batch fermentation with continuous product removal and cell recycle. The inhibitory product concentrations of the fermentation by Clostridium acetobutylicum were reduced by the simultaneous extraction process using polyvinylpyridine (PVP) as an adsorbent. Because of the reduced inhibition effect, a higher specific cell growth rate and thus a higher product formation rate was achieved. The cell recycle using membrane separation increased the total cell mass density and, therefore, enhanced the reactor productivity. The repeated fed-batchoperation overcame the drawbacks typically associated with a batch operation such as down times, long lag period, and the limitation on the maximum initial substrate concentration allowed due to the substrate inhibition. Unlike a continuous operation, the repeated fed-batch operation could beoperated for a long time at a relatively higher substrate concentration without sacrificing the substrate loss in the effluent. As a result, the integrated process reached 47.2 g/L in the equivalent solvent concentration (including acetone, butanol, and ethanol) and 1.69 g/L . h in the fermentor productivity, on average, over a 239.5-h period. Compared with a controlled traditional batch acetone-butanol fermentation, the equivalent solvent concentration and the tormentor productivity were increased by 140% and 320%, respectively. (c) 1995 John Wiley & Sons Inc.     

Acetone butanol ethanol (ABE) production from concentrated substrate: reduction in substrate inhibition by fed-batch technique and product inhibition by gas stripping

Acetone butanol ethanol (ABE) was produced in an integrated fed-batch fermentation-gas stripping product-recovery system using Clostridium beijerinckii BA101, with H₂ and CO₂ as the carrier gases. This technique was applied in order to eliminate the substrate and product inhibition that normally restricts ABE production and sugar utilization to less than 20 g l^–1 and 60 g l^–1, respectively. In the integrated fed-batch fermentation and product recovery system, solvent productivities were improved to 400% of the control batch fermentation productivities. In a control batch reactor, the culture used 45.4 g glucose l^–1 and produced 17.6 g total solvents l^–1 (yield 0.39 g g^–1, productivity 0.29 g l^–1 h^–1). Using the integrated fermentation-gas stripping product-recovery system with CO₂ and H₂ as carrier gases, we carried out fed-batch fermentation experiments and measured various characteristics of the fermentation, including ABE production, selectivity, yield and productivity. The fed-batch reactor was operated for 201 h. At the end of the fermentation, an unusually high concentration of total acids (8.5 g l^–1) was observed. A total of 500 g glucose was used to produce 232.8 g solvents (77.7 g acetone, 151.7 g butanol, 3.4 g ethanol) in 1 l culture broth. The average solvent yield and productivity were 0.47 g g^–1 and 1.16 g l^–1 h^–1, respectively.     

In situ extractive fermentation of acetone and butanol

The productivity of the acetone-butanol fermentation was increased by continuously removing acetone and butanol from the fermentation broth during fed-batch culture. Whole broth containing viable cells of Clostridium acetobutylicum was cycled to a Karr reciprocating plate extraction column in which acetone and butanol were extracted into oleyl alcohol flowing counter-currently through the column. By continuously removing these toxic metabolites from the broth, end product inhibition was reduced, and a concentrated feed solution containing 300 g/L glucose was fermented at an overall butanol productivity of 1.0 g/L h, 70% higher than the productivity of normal batch fermentation. The continuous extraction process provides flexible operation and lends itself to process scale-up.     

添加有机酸对Clostridium acetobutylicum合成丙酮和丁醇的影响

为提高丙酮-丁醇梭菌厌氧发酵生产丙酮和丁醇的能力,在发酵过程中添加有机酸（乙酸和丁酸）,考察其对菌体生长、溶剂合成影响。实验表明：当添加1.5 g/L乙酸时能够促进菌体的生长,促进丙酮的合成,在600 nm处的最大OD值比参照值高出18.4%,丙酮的最终质量分数提高了21.05%,但不能促进丁醇的合成;当添加1.0g/L丁酸时能够促进菌体生长,促进丁醇的合成,在600 nm处的最大OD比参照值高22.29%,丁醇的最终质量分数比对照组提高了24.32%,但不能促进丙酮的合成。     

Production of biobutanol from acid-pretreated corncob using Clostridium beijerinckii TISTR 1461: Process optimization studies

Corncob is a potential feedstock in Thailand that can be used for fermentable sugar production through dilute sulfuric acid pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis. To recover high amounts of monomeric sugars from corncob, the sulfuric pretreatment conditions were optimized by using response surface methodology with three independent variables: sulfuric acid concentration, temperature, and time. The highest response of total sugars, 48.84 g/L, was found at 122.78°C, 4.65 min, and 2.82% (v/v) H₂SO₄. With these conditions, total sugars from the confirmation experiment were 46.29 g/L, with 5.51% error from the predicted value. The hydrolysate was used as a substrate for acetone–butanol–ethanol fermentation to evaluate its potential for microbial growth. The simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) showed that C. beijerinckii TISTR 1461 can generate acetone–butanol–ethanol products at 11.64 g/L (5.29 g/L acetone, 6.26 g/L butanol, and 0.09 g/L ethanol) instantly using sugars from the hydrolysed corncob with Novozymes 50013 cellulase enzyme without an overliming process.     

The influence of H2, CO2 and dilution rate on the continuous fermentation of acetone-butanol

Summary The effect of product gases, H₂ and CO₂, on solvent production was studied using a continuous culture of alginate-immobilized Clostridium acetobutylicum. Initially, in order to find the optimum dilution rate for aceton--butanol production in this system, fermentations were carried out at various dilution rates. With 10% H₂ and 10% CO₂ in the sparging gas, a dilution rate of 0.07 h^–1 was found to maximize volumetric productivity (0.58 g·l^–1·h^–1), while the maximum specific productivity of 0.27 g^–·h^–1 occured at 0.12 h^–1. Continuous cultures with vigorous sparging of N₂ produced only acids. It was concluded that in the case of continuous fermentation H₂ is essential for good solvent production, although good solvent production is possible in an H₂-absent environment in the case of batch fermentations. When the fermentation was carried out at atmospheric pressure under H₂-enriched conditions, the presence of CO₂ in the sparging gas did not slow down glucose metabolism; rather it changed the direction of the phosphoroclastic reaction and as a result increased the butanol/acetone ratio.     

In-situ recovery of butanol during fermentation

End-product inhibition in the acetone-butanol fermentation was reduced by using extractive fermentation to continuously remove acetone and butanol from the fermentation broth. In situ removal of inhibitory products from Clostridium acetobutylicum resulted in increased reactor productivity; volumetric butanol productivity increased from 0.58 kg/(m³h) in batch fermentation to 1.5 kg/(m³h) in fed-batch extractive fermentation using oleyl alcohol as the extraction solvent. The use of fed-batch operation allowed glucose solutions of up to 500 kg/m³ to be fermented, resulting in a 3.5- to 5-fold decrease in waste water volume. Butanol reached a concentration of 30–35 kg/m³ in the oleyl alcohol extractant at the end of fermentation, a concentration that is 2–3 times higher than is possible in regular batch or fed-batch fermentation. Butanol productivities and glucose conversions in fed-batch extractive fermentation compare favorable with continuous fermentation and in situ product removal fermentations.List of Symbols C _g kg/m³ concentration of glucose in the feed - C _w dm³/m³ concentration of water in the feed - F(t) cm³/h flowrate of feed to the fermentor at time t - V(t) dm³ broth volume at time t - V _i dm³ initial broth volume - V _si dm³ volume of the i-th aqueous phase sample - effective fraction of water in the feed Part 1. Bioprocess Engineering 2 (1987) 1–12     

Microbial production of a biofuel (acetone–butanol–ethanol) in a continuous bioreactor: impact of bleed and simultaneous product removal

Acetone butanol ethanol (ABE) was produced in an integrated continuous one-stage fermentation and gas stripping product recovery system using Clostridium beijerinckii BA101 and fermentation gases (CO₂ and H₂). In this system, the bioreactor was fed with a concentrated sugar solution (250–500 g L^?1 glucose). The bioreactor was bled semi-continuously to avoid accumulation of inhibitory chemicals and products. The continuous system was operated for 504 h (21 days) after which the fermentation was intentionally terminated. The bioreactor produced 461.3 g ABE from 1,125.0 g total sugar in 1 L culture volume as compared to a control batch process in which 18.4 g ABE was produced from 47.3 g sugar. These results demonstrate that ABE fermentation can be operated in an integrated continuous one-stage fermentation and product recovery system for a long period of time, if butanol and other microbial metabolites in the bioreactor are kept below threshold of toxicity.     

Uptake and activation of acetate and butyrate in Clostridium acetobutylicum

Summary The pathway for uptake of acids during the solvent formation phase of an acetone-butanol fermentation by Clostridium acetobutylicum ATCC 824 was studied. ¹³C NMR investigations on actively metabolizing cells showed that butyrate can be taken up from the medium and quantitatively converted to butanol without accumulation of intermediates. The activities of acetate phosphotransacetylase, acetate kinase and phosphate butyryltransferase rapidly decreased to very low levels when the organism began to form solvents. This indicates that the uptake of acids does not occur via a reversal of these acid forming enzymes. No short-chain acyl-CoA synthetase activity or butyryl phosphate reducing activity could be detected. Based on our results and a critical analysis of literature data on acetone-butanol fermentations, it is suggested that an acetoacetyl-CoA: acetate (butyrate) CoA-transferase is solely responsible for uptake and activation of acetate and butyrate in C. acetobutylicum. The transferase exhibits a broad carboxylic acid specificity. The key enzyme in the uptake is acetoacetate decarboxylase, which is induced late in the fermentation and pulls the transferase reaction towards formation of acetoacetate. The major implication is that it is not feasible to obtain a batch-wise butanol fermentation without acetone formation and retention of a good yield of butanol.     

Acetone production in solventogenic <Emphasis Type="Italic">Clostridium</Emphasis> species: new insights from non-enzymatic decarboxylation of acetoacetate

Development of a butanologenic strain with high selectivity for butanol production is often proposed as a possible route for improving the economics of biobutanol production by solventogenic Clostridium species. The acetoacetate decarboxylase (aadc) gene encoding acetoacetate decarboxylase (AADC), which catalyzes the decarboxylation of acetoacetate into acetone and CO₂, was successfully disrupted by homologous recombination in solventogenic Clostridium beijerinckii NCIMB 8052 to generate an aadc ⁻ mutant. Our fermentation studies revealed that this mutant produces a maximum acetone concentration of 3 g/L (in P2 medium), a value comparable to that produced by wild-type C. beijerinckii 8052. Therefore, we postulated that AADC-catalyzed decarboxylation of acetoacetate is not the sole means for acetone generation. Our subsequent finding that non-enzymatic decarboxylation of acetoacetate in vitro, under conditions similar to in vivo acetone–butanol–ethanol (ABE) fermentation, produces 1.3 to 5.2 g/L acetone between pH 6.5 and 4 helps rationalize why various knock-out and knock-down strategies designed to disrupt aadc in solventogenic Clostridium species did not eliminate acetone production during ABE fermentation. Based on these results, we discuss alternatives to enhance selectivity for butanol production.     

Separation of dilute aqueous butanol and acetone solutions by pervaporation through liquid membranes

A simultaneous extraction-stripping process is proposed for separating volatile products from fermentation broths, it is based on pervaporation through a liquid membrane supported with a hydrophobic porous membrane. The liquid membrane prepared with oleyl alcohol was selected as the most suitable for separating volatile products resulting from acetone-butanol fermentation. The separation performance and stability of the oleyl alcohol liquid membrane were investigated by using dilute aqueous butanol and acetone solutions. The oleyl alcohol liquid membrane was found to be superior by far in both selectivity and permeability of butanol to the better known silicone rubber membrane in its high selectivity for alcohols. Using the oleyl alcohol liquid membrane, the dilute aqueous butanol solutions of around 4 g/L obtained in acetone-butanol fermentation could be concentrated up to 100 times. The stability of this liquid membrane was also quite good as long as the surface tension of the feed solution was less than the critical surface tension of the support membrane. No change in the separation performance was found after the continuous usage in a long period of 100 h.     

Influence of external electron acceptors and of CO and H2 on the xylose metabolism ofBacteroides xylanolyticus X5.1

WhenBacteroides xylanolyticus X5-1 was grown on xylose in batch culture, acetate, ethanol, H₂, CO₂ and formate were the main fermentation products. CO inhibited H2 formation byB. xylanolyticus X5-1. As a result, the product formation shifted to more ethanol and formate and less acetate. Furthermore, less biomass was produced. H2 had almost no effect on the product formation from xylose. In batch cultures, dihydroxyacetone, acetone, acetoin and acetol could act as electron acceptors during xylose metabolism. The electron acceptors were reduced to their corresponding alcohols. The product formation from xylose byB. xylanolyticus X5-1 shifted to mainly acetate and CO₂, and an increased biomass yield was obtained. H₂, ethanol and formate were no longer produced. In continuous cultures not only 1,2-propanediol was formed from acetol, but also acetone. The NADP-dependent ethanol dehydrogenase that was present in xylosegrown continuous-culture cells, was repressed when the organism was grown in the presence of acetol. However, another alcohol dehydrogenase was induced for reduction of the external electron acceptor.     

Production of butanol by Clostridium puniceum in batch and continuous culture

Summary The pink-pigmented, amylolytic and pectinolytic bacterium Clostridium puniceum in anaerobic batch culture at pH 5.5 and 25–30°C produced butan-1-ol as the major product of fermentation of glucose or starch. The alcohol was formed throughout the exponential phase of growth and surprisingly little acetone was simultaneously produced. Furthermore, acetic and butyric acids were only accumulated in low concentrations, and under optimal conditions were completely re-utilised before the fermentation ceased. Thus, in a minimal medium containing 4% w/v glucose as sole source of carbon and energy, after 65 h at 25°C, pH 5.5 all of the glucose had been consumed to yield (g product/100 g glucose utilised) butanol 32, acetone 3 and ethanol 2. Butanol was again the major product of glucose fermentation during phosphate-limited chemostat culture wherein, although the organism eventually lost its capacity to sporulate and to synthesize granulose, production of butanol continued for at least 100 volume changes. Under no growth condition was the organism capable of producing more than 13.3 g l^-1 of butanol. At pH 5.5, growth on pectin was slow and yielded a markedly lesser biomass concentration than when growth was on glucose or starch; acetic acid was the major fermentation product with lower concentrations of methanol, acetone, butanol and butyric acid. At pH 7, growth on all substrates produced virtually no solvents but high concentrations of both acetic and butyric acids.     

In-situ recovery of butanol during fermentation

End product inhibition can be reduced by the in situ removal of inhibitory fermentation products as they form. Extractive fermentation, in which an immiscible organic solvent is added to the fermentor in order to extract inhibitory products, was applied to the acetone-butanol fermentation. Six solvents or solvent mixtures were tested in batch extractive fermentations: kerosene, 30 wt% tetradecanol in kerosene, 50 wt% dodecanol in kerosene, oleyl alcohol, 50 wt% oleyl alcohol in a decane fraction and 50 wt% oleyl alcohol in benzyl benzoate. The best results were obtained with oleyl alcohol or a mixture of oleyl alcohol and benzyl benzoate. In normal batch fermentation of Clostridium acetobutylicum, glucose consumption is limited to about 80 kg/m³ due to the accumulation of butanol in the broth. In extractive fermentation using oleyl alcohol or a mixture of oleyl alcohol and benzyl benzoate, over 100 kg/m³ of glucose can be fermented. Removal of butanol from the broth as it formed also increased the rate of butanol production. Maximum volumetric butanol productivity was increased by as much as 60% in extractive fermentation compared to batch fermentation. Butanol productivities obtained in extractive fermentation compare favorably with other in situ product removal fermentations.     

On-line fluorescence measurements in assessing culture metabolic activities

Summary NADH fluorescence aided by a stoichiometric metabolic pathway model and culture dynamics was used to elucidate the unobservable intracellular physiological state in two metabolically different phases during culture of Clostridium acetobutylicum. The validity of the theoretical model was examined over a range of culture pH regimes and initial sugar concentrations. The H₂/CO₂ gas concentration ratio was found to be an important process parameter. NADH fluorescence detection was compared with simultaneous enzymatic measurements. The specific fluorescence (fluorescence per biomass, F/X) provided a distinction between oxidative and reductive culture metabolism independent of the pH or substrate concentration changes. A good indicator of the type of culture activity proved to be the dF/dt parameter. The net fluorescence measurements correlated with butanol accumulation under all growth conditions suggesting the possible use of the fluorescence probe as a butanol probe in this fermentation.     

Production of acetone and butanol by Clostridium acetobutylicum in continuous culture with cell recycle

Summary To increase the solvent productivity of the acetone-butanol fermentation, a continuous culture of Clostridium acetobytylicum with cell recycling was used. At a dry cell mass concentration of 8 g l^-1 and a dilution rate of D=0.64 h^-1, a solvent productivity of 5.4 g l^-1 h^-1 was attained. To prevent degeneration of the culture, which occurs with high concentrations of solvents (acetone, butanol and ethanol), different reactor cascades were used. A two-stage cascade with cell recycling and turbidostatic cell concentration control turned out to be the best solution, the first stage of which was kept at relatively low cell and product concentrations. A solvent productivity of 3 and 2.3 g l^-1 h^-1, respectively, was achieved at solvent concentrations of 12 and 15 g l^-1.Symbols D Dilution rate (h^-1) - r _p solvent productivity (g l^-1 h^-1) - s residual glucose concentration (g l^-1) - V _R reactor volume (l) - V _O overall volume (l) - x (dry) cell mass concentration (g l^-1) - Y _P/S solvent yield (g g^-1)     

Carbon monoxide gasing leads to alcohol production and butyrate uptake without acetone formation in continuous cultures ofClostridium acetobutylicum

Summary When continuous, steady-state, glucose-limited cultures ofClostridium acetobutylicum were sparged with CO, the completely or almost completely acidogenic fermentations became solventogenic. Alcohol (butanol and ethanol) and lactate production at very high specific production rates were initiated and sustained without acetone, and little or no acetate and butyrate formation. In one fermentation, strong butyrate uptake without acetone formation was observed. Growth could be sustained even with 100% inhibition of H₂ formation. Although CO gasing inhibited growth up to 50%, and H₂ formation up to 100%, it enhanced the rate of glucose uptake up to 300%. TheY _ATP was strongly affected and mostly reduced with respect to its steady-state value. The results support the hypothesis that solvent formation is triggered by an altered electron flow.     

High-titer n-butanol production by clostridium acetobutylicum JB200 in fed-batch fermentation with intermittent gas stripping

Acetone–butanol–ethanol (ABE) fermentation with a hyper‐butanol producing Clostridium acetobutylicum JB200 was studied for its potential to produce a high titer of butanol that can be readily recovered with gas stripping. In batch fermentation without gas stripping, a final butanol concentration of 19.1 g/L was produced from 86.4 g/L glucose consumed in 78 h, and butanol productivity and yield were 0.24 g/L h and 0.21 g/g, respectively. In contrast, when gas stripping was applied intermittently in fed‐batch fermentation, 172 g/L ABE (113.3 g/L butanol, 49.2 g/L acetone, 9.7 g/L ethanol) were produced from 474.9 g/L glucose in six feeding cycles over 326 h. The overall productivity and yield were 0.53 g/L h and 0.36 g/g for ABE and 0.35 g/L h and 0.24 g/g for butanol, respectively. The higher productivity was attributed to the reduced butanol concentration in the fermentation broth by gas stripping that alleviated butanol inhibition, whereas the increased butanol yield could be attributed to the reduced acids accumulation as most acids produced in acidogenesis were reassimilated by cells for ABE production. The intermittent gas stripping produced a highly concentrated condensate containing 195.9 g/L ABE or 150.5 g/L butanol that far exceeded butanol solubility in water. After liquid–liquid demixing or phase separation, a final product containing ～610 g/L butanol, ～40 g/L acetone, ～10 g/L ethanol, and no acids was obtained. Compared to conventional ABE fermentation, the fed‐batch fermentation with intermittent gas stripping has the potential to reduce at least 90% of energy consumption and water usage in n‐butanol production from glucose. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2012; 109: 2746–2756. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.