Continuous process for producing n-butanol employing anaerobic fermentation
This patent describes a continuous process for the production of n-butanol from the starting materials of an anaerobic fermentation. The process consists of: (a) continuously contacting at least one carbohydrate-containing substrate with an n-butanol producing culture in water to effect the fermentation of substrate and form a product mixture consisting of n-butanol; (b) continuously extracting the product mixture from the substrate, the culture and the water by forming a solution of the product mixture with an extraction solvent while substantially avoiding the formation of a solution of the solvent with the substrate, the culture, and the water. The extraction solvent has at least one fluorocarbon solvent selected from the group consisting of fluorocarbons that boil at temperatures between -41/sup 0/C. and +48/sup 0/C., and have vapor pressures at 21/sup 0/C. between 10 PSIA and 165 PSIA. They also have heats of vaporization below 60 calories per gram, and a specific heat below 0.28. They have a surface tension below 20 dynes per centimeter, a viscosity below 0.5 centipoise, a solubility below 1% in water, and a solubility below 0.2% of water in the fluorocarbon; (c) continuously separating the extraction solvent from the product mixture by vaporizing substantially all of the solvent without substantial vaporization of the product mixture, and (d) continuously condensing the vaporized solvent for reuse as an extraction solvent in step (b).
- Assignee:
- NOV; EDB-86-077421
- Patent Number(s):
- US 4568643
- OSTI ID:
- 5965703
- Resource Relation:
- Patent File Date: Filed date 4 Nov 1983
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
BUTANOLS
BIOSYNTHESIS
CARBOHYDRATES
ANAEROBIC DIGESTION
BOILING POINTS
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CULTURE MEDIA
EVAPORATION
FLUORINE COMPOUNDS
LOW TEMPERATURE
MIXTURES
SOLUBILITY
SOLVENT EXTRACTION
SOLVENTS
SUBSTRATES
WATER
ALCOHOLS
BIOCONVERSION
DIGESTION
DISPERSIONS
EXTRACTION
HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
HYDROXY COMPOUNDS
MANAGEMENT
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PHASE TRANSFORMATIONS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
PROCESSING
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SYNTHESIS
THERMODYNAMIC PROPERTIES
TRANSITION TEMPERATURE
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE PROCESSING
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140504 - Solar Energy Conversion- Biomass Production & Conversion- (-1989)