Can Xylose Be Fermented to Biofuel Butanol in Continuous Long-Term Reactors: If Not, What Options Are There?

Nasib Qureshi (), Xiaoqing Lin, Shunhui Tao, Siqing Liu, Haibo Huang and Nancy N. Nichols
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Nasib Qureshi: Bioenergy Research Unit, National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research (NCAUR), Agricultural Research Service (ARS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), 1815 N University Street, Peoria, IL 61604, USA
Xiaoqing Lin: Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Resources Biorefinery, School of Chemical Engineering and Light Industry, Guangdong University of Technology, No. 100 Waihuan Xi Road, Panyu District, Guangzhou 510006, China
Shunhui Tao: Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Resources Biorefinery, School of Chemical Engineering and Light Industry, Guangdong University of Technology, No. 100 Waihuan Xi Road, Panyu District, Guangzhou 510006, China
Siqing Liu: Renewable Products Technology Research Unit, National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research (NCAUR), Agricultural Research Service (ARS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), 1815 N University Street, Peoria, IL 61604, USA
Haibo Huang: Department of Food Science & Technology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1230 Washington Street SW, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA
Nancy N. Nichols: Bioenergy Research Unit, National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research (NCAUR), Agricultural Research Service (ARS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), 1815 N University Street, Peoria, IL 61604, USA

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 13, 1-21

Abstract: This study applied concentrated xylose (60–250 g/L) medium to produce butanol (acetone butanol ethanol, or ABE). A control batch fermentation of 61 g/L initial glucose using Clostridium beijerinckii P260 resulted in a productivity and yield of 0.33 g/L·h and 0.43 g/g, respectively. Use of 60 g/L xylose in a batch system resulted in productivity and yield of 0.26 g/L·h, and 0.40 g/g, respectively. In these two experiments, the culture fermented 89.3% glucose and 83.6% of xylose, respectively. When ABE recovery was coupled with fermentation for continuous solvent removal, the culture fermented all the added xylose (60 g/L). This system resulted in a productivity and yield of 0.66 g/L·h and 0.44 g/g, respectively. When the sugar concentration was further increased above 100 g/L, only a small fraction of the sugar was fermented in batch cultures without product removal. However, with simultaneous product removal, all the xylose (150 g/L) was fermented provided the culture was fed with nutrients intermittently. In this system, 66.32 g/L ABE was produced from 150 g/L xylose with a productivity of 0.44 g/L·h and yield of 0.44 g/g. Using the integrated culture system allowed sugar consumption to be increased by 300% (150 g/L). The continuous system using xylose as a feed did not sustain and after 36 days (864 h) of fermentation, it produced only 2–3 g/L ABE. Rather, the culture became acidogenic and produced 4–5 g/L acids (acetic and butyric). This study suggested that xylose be fermented in batch reactors coupled with simultaneous product recovery rather than in continuous reactors.

Keywords: butanol; concentrated xylose; fermentation; productivity; Clostridium beijerinckii P260 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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