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Increased productivity of Clostridium acetobutylicum fermentation of acetone, butanol, and ethanol by pervaporation through supported ionic liquid membrane

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Abstract

Pervaporation proved to be one of the best methods to remove solvents out of a solvent producing Clostridium acetobutylicum culture. By using an ionic liquid (IL)-polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) ultrafiltration membrane (pore size 60 nm), we could guarantee high stability and selectivity during all measurements carried out at 37°C. Overall solvent productivity of fermentation connected with continuous product removal by pervaporation was 2.34 g l−1 h−1. The supported ionic liquid membrane (SILM) was impregnated with 15 wt% of a novel ionic liquid (tetrapropylammonium tetracyano-borate) and 85 wt% of polydimethylsiloxane. Pervaporation, accomplished with the optimized SILM, led to stable and efficient removal of the solvents butan-1-ol and acetone out of a C. acetobutylicum culture. By pervaporation through SILM, we removed more butan-1-ol than C. acetobutylicum was able to produce. Therefore, we added an extra dose of butan-1-ol to run fermentation on limiting values where the bacteria would still be able to survive its lethal concentration (15.82 g/l). After pervaporation was switched off, the bacteria died from high concentration of butan-1-ol, which they produced.

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Acknowledgement

This research was supported by Marie Curie Intra-European and Marie Curie Reintegration Fellowships within the 6th European Community Framework Programme. P. Izák is also grateful to Purkyne Fellowship from the Academy of Science of the Czech Republic and grant No. 104/08/0600 from Czech Science Foundation. Part of the Work was financially supported by the Fonds der Chemischen Industrie.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Chemical Process Fundamentals, Rozvojová 135, 16502, Prague 6, Czech Republic

    Pavel Izák

  2. Institute of Biological Sciences/Microbiology, University of Rostock, Albert Einstein-Straße 3, 18059, Rostock, Germany

    Katrin Schwarz & Hubert Bahl

  3. Laboratory of Microbiology, Department of Agrotechnology and Food Sciences, Wageningen University, 6703 HB, Wageningen, The Netherlands

    Katrin Schwarz

  4. Institute of Chemistry, University of Rostock, Albert Einstein-Straße 3a, 18059, Rostock, Germany

    Wolfgang Ruth & Udo Kragl

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  1. Pavel Izák
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  2. Katrin Schwarz
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  3. Wolfgang Ruth
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  4. Hubert Bahl
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  5. Udo Kragl
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Correspondence to Pavel Izák.

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Izák, P., Schwarz, K., Ruth, W. et al. Increased productivity of Clostridium acetobutylicum fermentation of acetone, butanol, and ethanol by pervaporation through supported ionic liquid membrane. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 78, 597–602 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-008-1354-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-008-1354-0

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