Journal
BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY
Volume 101, Issue 13, Pages 5013-5022Publisher
ELSEVIER SCI LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2009.12.098
Keywords
Biorefinery; Ethanol; Lignocellulosic biomass; Syngas fermentation; Mass transfer
Ask authors/readers for more resources
The conversion of biomass-derived synthesis gas (or syngas in brief) into biofuels by microbial catalysts (such as Clostridium ljungdahlii, Clostridium autoethanogenum, Acetobacterium woodii, Clostridium carboxidivorans and Peptostreptococcus productus) has gained considerable attention as a promising alternative for biofuel production in the recent past. The utilization of the whole biomass, including lignin, irrespective of biomass quality, the elimination of complex pre-treatment steps and costly enzymes, a higher specificity of biocatalysts, an independence of the H-2:CO ratio for bioconversion, bioreactor operation at ambient conditions, and no issue of noble metal poisoning are among the major advantages of this process. Poor mass transfer properties of the gaseous substrates (mainly CO and H-2) and low ethanol yield of biocatalysts are the biggest challenges preventing the commercialization of syngas fermentation technology. This paper critically reviews the existing literature in biomass-derived syngas fermentation into biofuels, specifically, different biocatalysts, factors affecting syngas fermentation, and mass transfer. The paper also outlines the major challenges of syngas fermentation, key performance index and technology road map, and discusses the further research needs. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available