Two-stage in situ gas stripping for enhanced butanol fermentation and energy-saving product recovery

Journal Article · Wed May 01 00:00:00 EDT 2013 · Bioresource Technology

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2012.07.062· OSTI ID:1211013

Xue, C; Zhao, JB; Liu, FF; Lu, CC; Yang, ST; Bai, FW

Two-stage gas stripping for butanol recovery from acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) fermentation with Clostridium acetobutylicum JB200 in a fibrous bed bioreactor was studied. Compared to fermentation without in situ gas stripping, more ABE (10.0 g/L acetone, 19.2 g/L butanol, 1.7 g/L ethanol vs. 7.9 g/L acetone, 16.2 g/L butanol, 1.4 g/L ethanol) were produced, with a higher butanol yield (0.25 g/g vs. 0.20 g/g) and productivity (0.40 g/L.h vs. 0.30 g/L-h) due to reduced butanol inhibition. The first-stage gas stripping produced a condensate containing 175.6 g/L butanol (227.0 g/L ABE), which after phase separation formed an organic phase containing 612.3 g/L butanol (660.7 g/L ABE) and an aqueous phase containing 101.3 g/L butanol (153.2 g/L ABE). After second-stage gas stripping, a highly concentrated product containing 420.3 g/L butanol (532.3 g/L ABE) was obtained. The process is thus effective in producing high-titer butanol that can be purified with much less energy. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E)
• DOE Contract Number: DE-AR0000095
• OSTI ID: 1211013
• Journal Information: Bioresource Technology, Vol. 135; ISSN 0960-8524
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English