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Continuous acetone-butanol production with free and immobilized Clostridium acetobutylicum

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Summary

Acetone-butanol production was carried out with Clostridium acetobutylicum DSM 792 (ATCC 824) in a two-stage stirred tank cascade with 1.25 l and 2.5 l medium volume using free and immobilized cells. The cells were immobilized by alginate, κ-carrageenan and/or chitosan. The cell-containing pellets were dried or chemically treated to improve their long-term stability. Dried Ca-alginate yielded the best matrix system. It remained stable after a fermentation time of 727 h in stirred tank reactors. The solvent (sum of acetone, butanol and ethanol) productivity of 1.93 g l-1 h-1 at a solvent concentration of 15.4 g l-1 with free cells was increased to 4.02 g l-1 h-1 at a solvent concentration of 4.0 g l-1 h-1 with Ca-alginate immobilized cells (25% cell loading, 12 g l-1 pellet concentration, 3 g l-1 wet cell mass concentration). With 0.5 mm pellet diameter, the biocatalyst efficiency was lower than 50%.

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Abbreviations

Bu:

butanol concentration (g l-1)

D :

dilution rate (h-1)

d :

mean pellet diameter (mm)

I :

activity yield (-) (eq. l)

m v :

relative mass loss of pellets during drying (-)

P :

solvent (sum of acetone, butanol and ethanol) concentration (g l-1)

S :

substrate concentration (g l-1)

t :

time (h)

V :

specific solvent consumption rate (h-1)

X :

cell mass concentration (g l-1)

Y :

V im/V free eq. (2)

Y :

solvent yield (-)

n :

catalyst efficiency (-)

im:

immobilized cells

free:

free cells

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Author notes

  1. Ch. Frick

    Present address: Agfa-Gevaert AG, D-5090, Leverkusen, Germany

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Gesellschaft für Biotechnologische Forschung mbH, Braunschweig, Germany

    Ch. Frick

  2. Institut für Technische Chemie, Universität Hannover, Callinstr. 3, D-3000, Hannover, Germany

    K. Schügerl

Authors
  1. Ch. Frick
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  2. K. Schügerl
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Frick, C., Schügerl, K. Continuous acetone-butanol production with free and immobilized Clostridium acetobutylicum . Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 25, 186–193 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00253646

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00253646

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