Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Medium Compositions for the Improvement of Productivity in Syngas Fermentation with Clostridium autoethanogenum

  • Research Paper
  • Bioprocess Engineering
  • Published:
Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The cost of culture media represents a considerable portion of the overall cost in syngas fermentation. Yeast extract is an expensive ingredient among the medium components required to prepare the culture medium. In this study, we evaluated the effectiveness of replacing yeast extract with relatively low-cost nutrient supplements such as corn steep liquor, malt extract, and vegetable extract in improving the feasibility of the syngas fermentation process in Clostridium autoethanogenum culture. The use of corn steep liquor, malt extract, and vegetable extract as nutrient supplements at a concentration of 0.5 g/L resulted in optical densities of 1.44, 1.37, and 1.71, and produced ethanol concentrations of 2.24, 3.37, and 3.76 g/L, respectively. The microbial growth and ethanol production in syngas fermentation with yeast extract alternatives was comparable with the results of fermentation with yeast extract (optical density of 1.48 and ethanol concentration of 2.16). Moreover, the use of malt and vegetable extracts showed considerable improvement (69% and 51%, respectively) in the specific ethanol productivity compared to yeast extract.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Wainaina, S., I. S. Horváth, and M. J. Taherzadeh (2018) Biochemicals from food waste and recalcitrant biomass via syngas fermentation: A review. Bioresour. Technol. 248: 113–121.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Kootstra, A. M. J., H. H. Beeftink, E. L. Scott, and J. P. M. Sanders (2009) Optimization of the dilute maleic acid pretreatment of wheat straw. Biotechnol. Biofuels. 2: 31.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Liu, K., H. K. Atiyeh, B. S. Stevenson, R. S. Tanner, M. R. Wilkins, and R. L. Huhnke (2014) Continuous syngas fermentation for the production of ethanol, n-propanol and n-butanol. Bioresour. Technol. 151: 69–77.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Wilkins, M. R. and H. K. Atiyeh (2011) Microbial production of ethanol from carbon monoxide. Curr. Opin. Biotechnol. 22: 326–330.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Arafat, H. A. and K. Jijakli (2013) Modeling and comparative assessment of municipal solid waste gasification for energy production. Waste Manag. 33: 1704–1713.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Abrini, J., H. Naveau, and E. J. Nyns (1994) Clostridium autoethanogenum, sp. nov., an anaerobic bacterium that produces ethanol from carbon monoxide. Arch. Microbiol. 161: 345–351.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Chang, I. S., B. H. Kim, R. W. Lovitt, and J. S. Bang (2001) Effect of CO partial pressure on cell-recycled continuous CO fermentation by Eubacterium limosum KIST612. Process Biochem. 37: 411–421.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Henstra, A. M., J. Sipma, A. Rinzema, and A. J. M. Stams (2007) Microbiology of synthesis gas fermentation for biofuel production. Curr. Opin. Biotechnol. 18: 200–206.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Köpke, M., C. Held, S. Hujer, H. Liesegang, A. Wiezer, A. Wollherr, A. Ehrenreich, W. Liebl, G. Gottschalk, and P. Dürre (2010) Clostridium ljungdahlii represents a microbial production platform based on syngas. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 107: 13087–13092.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Kundiyana, D. K., M. R. Wilkins, P. Maddipati, and R. L. Huhnke (2011) Effect of temperature, pH and buffer presence on ethanol production from synthesis gas by “Clostridium ragsdalei”. Bioresour. Technol. 102: 5794–5799.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Shen, Y., R. C. Brown, and Z. Wen (2017) Syngas fermentation by Clostridium carboxidivorans P7 in a horizontal rotating packed bed biofilm reactor with enhanced ethanol production. Appl. Energy. 187: 585–594.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Ragsdale, S. W. (2008) Enzymology of the wood-Ljungdahl pathway of acetogenesis. Ann. N Y. Acad. Sci. 1125: 129–136.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Kim, Y. K. and H. Lee (2016) Use of magnetic nanoparticles to enhance bioethanol production in syngas fermentation. Bioresour. Technol. 204: 139–144.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Sun, X., H. K. Atiyeh, A. Kumar, and H. Zhang (2018) Enhanced ethanol production by Clostridium ragsdalei from syngas by incorporating biochar in the fermentation medium. Bioresour. Technol. 247: 291–301.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Guo, Y., J. Xu, Y. Zhang, H. Xu, Z. Yuan, and D. Li (2010) Medium optimization for ethanol production with Clostridium autoethanogenum with carbon monoxide as sole carbon source. Bioresour. Technol. 101: 8784–8789.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Saxena, J. and R. S. Tanner (2011) Effect of trace metals on ethanol production from synthesis gas by the ethanologenic acetogen, Clostridium ragsdalei. J. Ind. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 38: 513–521.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Saxena, J. and R. S. Tanner (2012) Optimization of a corn steep medium for production of ethanol from synthesis gas fermentation by Clostridium ragsdalei. World J. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 28: 1553–1561.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Gao, J., H. K. Atiyeh, J. R. Phillips, M. R. Wilkins, and R. L. Huhnke (2013) Development of low cost medium for ethanol production from syngas by Clostridium ragsdalei. Bioresour. Technol. 147: 508–515.

    Google Scholar 

  19. Cotter, J. L., M. S. Chinn, and A. M. Grunden (2009) Ethanol and acetate production by Clostridium ljungdahlii and Clostridium autoethanogenum using resting cells. Bioprocess. Biosyst. Eng. 32: 369–380.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Kundiyana, D. K., R. L. Huhnke, P. Maddipati, H. K. Atiyeh, and M. R. Wilkins (2010) Feasibility of incorporating cotton seed extract in Clostridium strain P11 fermentation medium during synthesis gas fermentation. Bioresour. Technol. 101: 9673–9680.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Maddipati, P., H. K. Atiyeh, D. D. Bellmer, and R. L. Huhnke (2011) Ethanol production from syngas by Clostridium strain P11 using corn steep liquor as a nutrient replacement to yeast extract. Bioresour. Technol. 102: 6494–6501.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Sun, X., H. K. Atiyeh, A. Kumar, H. Zhang, and R. S. Tanner (2018) Biochar enhanced ethanol and butanol production by Clostridium carboxidivorans from syngas. Bioresour. Technol. 265: 128–138.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Abubackar, H. N., Á. Fernández-Naveira, M. C. Veiga, and C. Kennes (2016) Impact of cyclic pH shifts on carbon monoxide fermentation to ethanol by Clostridium autoethanogenum. Fuel. 178: 56–62.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Park, S., B. Ahn, and Y. K. Kim (2019) Growth enhancement of bioethanol-producing microbe Clostridium autoethanogenum by changing culture medium composition. Bioresour. Technol. Rep. 6: 237–240.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Valgepea, K., R. de Souza Pinto Lemgruber, K. Meaghan, R. W. Palfreyman, T. Abdalla, B. D. Heijstra, J. B. Behrendorff, R. Tappel, M. Köpke, S. D. Simpson, L. K. Nielsen, and E. Marcellin (2017) Maintenance of ATP homeostasis triggers metabolic shifts in gas-fermenting acetogens. Cell Syst. 4: 505–515.e5.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. DuBois, M., K. A. Gilles, J. K. Hamilton, P. A. Rebers, and F. Smith (1956) Colorimetric method for determination of sugars and related substances. Anal. Chem. 28: 350–356.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Alibaba, Accessed August 13, 2019. https://www.alibaba.com.

Download references

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by C1 Gas Refinery Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT(NRF-2018M3D3A1A01017994) and by the Basic Science Research program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education (NRF-2018R1D1A1B07043323). We would like to thank Editage (http://www.editage.co.kr) for English language editing.

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Neither ethical approval nor informed consent was required for this study.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering and Research Center of Chemical Technology, Hankyong National University, Anseong, 17579, Korea

    Hien Nguyen Thi, Soeun Park & Young-Kee Kim

  2. Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, Sogang University, Seoul, 04170, Korea

    Huiqing Li

Authors
  1. Hien Nguyen Thi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Soeun Park
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Huiqing Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Young-Kee Kim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Young-Kee Kim.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Thi, H.N., Park, S., Li, H. et al. Medium Compositions for the Improvement of Productivity in Syngas Fermentation with Clostridium autoethanogenum. Biotechnol Bioproc E 25, 493–501 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12257-019-0428-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12257-019-0428-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation