Butanol production from wheat straw by simultaneous saccharification and fermentation using Clostridium beijerinckii:: Part II -: Fed-batch fermentation

In these studies, Clostridium beijerinckii P260 was used to produce butanol (acetone-butanol-ethanol, or ABE) from wheat straw (WS) hydrolysate in a fed-batch reactor. It has been demonstrated that simultaneous hydrolysis of WS to achieve 100% hydrolysis to simple sugars (to the extent achievable under present conditions) and fermentation to butanol is possible. In addition to WS, the reactor was fed with a sugar solution containing glucose, xylose, arabinose, galactose, and mannose. The culture utilized all of the above sugars. It was noticed that near the end of fermentation (286-533h), the culture had difficulties utilizing xylose. As, a result of supplemental sugar feed to the reactor, ABE productivity was improved by 16% as compared with previous studies. In our previous experiment on simultaneous saccharification of WS and fermentation to butanol, a productivity of 0.31 g L-1 h(-1) was observed, while in the present studies a productivity of 0.36 g L-1 h(-1) was observed. It should be noted that a productivity of 0.77g L-1 h(-1) was observed when the culture was highly active. The fed-batch fermentation was operated for 533 h. It should be noted that C. beijerinckii P260 can be used to produce butanol from WS in integrated fermentations. Published by Elsevier Ltd.