Production of acetic acid by a mutant strain of Clostridium thermoaceticum was compared in three types of membrane cell-recycle bioreactors. A modified fed-batch bioreactor (where the product is partially removed at the end of fermentation, but the cells are retained), and a two-stage CSTR (with product being removed continuously and the cells being recycled from the second to the first stage) resulted in better performance than a one-stage CSTR or batch fermenter. The difference in performance was greater at higher acetate concentration. With 45 g/L of glucose in the feed, productivity was 0.75-1.12 g/L . h and acetic acid concentrations were 34-38 g/L. This is more than double the batch system. The nutrient supply rate also appeared to have a strong influence on productivity of the microorganism.