Development of 2,3-Butanediol Production Process from Klebsiella aerogenes ATCC 29007 Using Extracted Sugars of Chlorella pyrenoidosa and Biodiesel-Derived Crude Glycerol

Expectation for renewable energy is increasing due to environmental pollution such as fossil fuel depletion, CO2 emission, and harmful gases. Therefore, in this study, extracted sugars of microalgae, which cause algal blooms and crude glycerol, a biodiesel industry byproduct, were used simultaneously to produce 2,3-BDO. The 2,3-BDO production using only extracted algal sugars was about 4.8 g/L at 18 h, and the production of 2,3-BDO using both extracted algal sugar and crude glycerol was about 7 g/L at 18 h. It was confirmed that the main culture with crude glycerol was increased 1.5-fold compared to the case of using only extracted algal sugars. In addition, four components of the main medium (ammonium sulfate, casein hydrolysate, yeast extract, and crude glycerol) were statistically optimized and the concentrations of the medium were 12, 16, 12, and 13 g/L, respectively. In addition, the final 2,3-BDO production was about 11g/L, which 1.6-fold higher than before the optimization process. As a result, it was confirmed that 2,3-BDO production is possible through the simultaneous use of algal sugars and crude glycerol, which can greatly contribute to the development of zero-waste processes.

Automated summary

This study successfully produced 2,3-butanediol by simultaneously utilizing sugars extracted from microalgae and crude glycerol. The production yield was increased and the medium composition was optimized, contributing to the development of zero-waste processes.