Bioconversion of coal-derived synthesis gas to liquid fuels

Technical Report · Tue Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1991

OSTI ID:5356909

Jain, M K; Grethlein, H E; Datta, R ^[1]; Worden, R M ^[2]

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1. Michigan Biotechnology Inst., Lansing, MI (United States)
2. Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI (United States) Michigan Biotechnology Inst., Lansing, MI (United States)

The purpose of this project is to develop a biological process for the production of liquid fuels from coal-derived synthesis gas feedstocks. A two-stage, anaerobic bioconversion process is proposed, where in the first stage the carbon monoxide (CO) gas is converted to butyric and acetic acids by the CO strain of Butyribacterium methylotrophicum. In the second state, these acids along with the hydrogen (H{sub 2}) gas are converted to butanol, ethanol, and acetone by an acid utilizing mutant of Clostridium acetobutylicum. During this third quarter, our efforts were focused on fermentation optimization studies for each stage of the process. Studies included batch fermentation to determine acid and alcohol tolerance of B. methylotrophicum, continuous fermentations with cell recycle to identify optimal conditions for production of butanol and butyrate by B. methylotrophicum, and optimization of pH and temperature for conversion of acids to alcohols by C. acetobutylicum. 5 figs., 11 tabs.

• Research Organization: Illinois Dept. of Energy and Natural Resources, Springfield, IL (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: FG22-90PC90176
• OSTI ID: 5356909
• Report Number(s): DOE/PC/90176-T36; ON: DE91018300
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
010408* -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- C1 Processes-- (1987-)
550700 -- Microbiology
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
ACETIC ACID
ACETONE
ALCOHOL FUELS
ALCOHOLS
BACTERIA
BIOCONVERSION
BUTYRIC ACID
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBON MONOXIDE
CARBON OXIDES
CARBOXYLIC ACIDS
CHALCOGENIDES
CLOSTRIDIUM
DOCUMENT TYPES
ELEMENTS
ETHANOL
FERMENTATION
FLUIDS
FUELS
GASES
HYDROGEN
HYDROXY COMPOUNDS
KETONES
MICROORGANISMS
MONOCARBOXYLIC ACIDS
NONMETALS
OPTIMIZATION
ORGANIC ACIDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PH VALUE
PRODUCTION
PROGRESS REPORT
SYNTHESIS GAS
SYNTHETIC FUELS