화학공학소재연구정보센터
Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, Vol.104, No.20, 8679-8689, 2020
Milling byproducts are an economically viable substrate for butanol production using clostridial ABE fermentation
Butanol is a platform chemical that is utilized in a wide range of industrial products and is considered a suitable replacement or additive to liquid fuels. So far, it is mainly produced through petrochemical routes. Alternative production routes, for example through biorefinery, are under investigation but are currently not at a market competitive level. Possible alternatives, such as acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) fermentation by solventogenic clostridia are not market-ready to this day either, because of their low butanol titer and the high costs of feedstocks. Here, we analyzed wheat middlings and wheat red dog, two wheat milling byproducts available in large quantities, as substrates for clostridial ABE fermentation. We could identify ten strains that exhibited good butanol yields on wheat red dog. Two of the best ABE producing strains,Clostridium beijerinckiiNCIMB 8052 andClostridium diolisDSM 15410, were used to optimize a laboratory-scale fermentation process. In addition, enzymatic pretreatment of both milling byproducts significantly enhanced ABE production rates of the strainsC. beijerinckiiNCIMB 8052 andC. diolisDSM 15410. Finally, a profitability analysis was performed for small- to mid-scale ABE fermentation plants that utilize enzymatically pretreated wheat red dog as substrate. The estimations show that such a plant could be commercially successful.