Effective multiple stages continuous acetone-butanol-ethanol fermentation by immobilized bioreactors: Making full use of fresh corn stalk

In order to make full use of the fresh corn stalk, the sugar containing juice was used as the sole substrate for acetone-butanol-ethanol production without any nutrients supplement, and the bagasse after squeezing the juice was used as the immobilized carrier. A total 21.34 g/L of ABE was produced in batch cells immobilization system with ABE yield of 0.35 g/g. A continuous fermentation containing three stages with immobilized cells was conducted and the effect of dilution rate on fermentation was investigated. As a result, the productivity and ABE solvents concentration reached 0.80 g/L h and 19.93 g/L, respectively, when the dilution rate in each stage was 0.12/h ( corresponding to a dilution rate of 0.04/h in the whole system). And the long-term operation indicated the continuous multiple stages ABE fermentation process had good stability and showed the great potential in future industrial applications. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.