Membrane solvent extraction with hydrophobic microporous hollow fibers and extractive bioreactor development for fuel ethanol production

Thesis/Dissertation · Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1986

OSTI ID:5491736

Frank, G T

A novel tubular fermentor-extractor has been developed which incorporates hydrophobic microporous hollow fiber membranes (HMHF). The hydrophobic nature of the HMHF membranes has been used to carry out two distinct functions: in situ dispersion-free solvent extraction and gas exchange. The HMHF membranes can provide oxygen or locally integrated product recovery throughout the entire reactor volume. In both modes of operation carbon dioxide is continuously removed as it is formed by the fermentation. This novel bioconversion reactor has been utilized to conduct continuous ethanol fermentations utilizing S. cerevisiae (NRRL Y-132) for upwards of 483 hours. Dibutyl phthalate was used as the solvent. No problems related to cell disruption of the membranes were observed. These studies established that it is possible to enhance ethanol productivity by maintaining lower ethanol concentration throughout the reactor, reducing end-product inhibition. Key to the development of the extractive bioconversion reactor was the characterization of the transport processes involved by using a single HMHF membrane to conduct studies of dispersion-free solvent extraction. This enabled a rational preliminary design of the fermentor-extractor to be completed. In addition, an unexpected fiber-fiber interaction has been identified through these studies.

• Research Organization: Stevens Inst. of Tech., Hoboken, NJ (USA)
• OSTI ID: 5491736
• Resource Relation: Other Information: Thesis (Ph. D.)
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

09 BIOMASS FUELS
BIOREACTORS
MEMBRANES
PERFORMANCE TESTING
CARBON DIOXIDE
SEPARATION PROCESSES
ETHANOL
BIOSYNTHESIS
DESIGN
FERMENTATION
FIBERS
OPTIMIZATION
SACCHAROMYCES CEREVISIAE
SOLVENT EXTRACTION
ALCOHOLS
BIOCONVERSION
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBON OXIDES
CHALCOGENIDES
EXTRACTION
FUNGI
HYDROXY COMPOUNDS
MICROORGANISMS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PLANTS
SACCHAROMYCES
SYNTHESIS
TESTING
YEASTS
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