ABE fermentation processes

5 ABE FERMENTATION PROCESSES, BUTANOL TOXICITY, AND PRODUCT RECOVERY 

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Qureshi, N., and Maddox, I. S., Application of Novel Technology to the ABE Fermentation Process An Economic Analysis,"Appl. Biochem. Biotechnol., 34/35 441 (1992)... 

A narrow beam, attainable with Raman, was used by Schuster et al.4 to characterize the population distribution in Clostridium cultures. The technique was applied to the acetone-butanol (ABE) fermentation process in which the solventogenic Clostridia go through a complex cell cycle. After drying the cells on calcium fluoride carriers, single-cell spectra were obtained. Cells of different morphology showed different spectra. A number of cell components could be detected and varied in quantity. The approach was seen to be far faster than conventional methods. 

Optimizing the ABE fermentation process has long been the aspiration of more than a century of research. Conventionally, the profitability of fermentation is influenced by the type and concentration of substrate, dilution rate, pH, culture medium, and product recovery. Even using cell recycle, cell immobilization, or extractive fermentation to increase cell density and productivity, the yield of the combined ABE production never exceeded 0.44 g/g (13-15). 

The ABE fermentation process was first developed by C. Weizmann at Manchester University in 1912. Commercial production quickly spread to the United States and then worldwide during the First and Second World Wars first to produce acetone for ammunitions and then later to produce butanol for paint lacquers. The fermentation process fell out of favor in the United States and Europe in the 1950s when renewable solvents could no longer compete with their synthetic equivalents on price. Some production, via fermentation, continued in China, Russia, and South Africa until the early 1980s [54]. 

Physiology and Enzymes of the Central Metabolic Pathway ABE Fermentation Processes, Butanol Toxicity, and Product Recovery... 

Although the commercial production of biobutanol through the traditional ABE fermentation process is not currently or in the near future economically viable, the policy makers should take account the tremendous credit from the reduction of waste and the green house gases due to the renewable production processes. More attention and investments on the basic research are needed, in order to advance the whole biobutanol production pipeline and make it ultimately commercially feasible in the near future. 

Maddox IS (1980) Production of n-butanol from whey filtrate using Clostridium acetobutylicum NCIB 2951. Biotechnol Lett 2 493-498 Maddox IS, Steiner E, Hirsch S, Wessner S, Gutierrez NA, Gapes JR, Schuster KG (2000) The cause of acid crash and acidogenic fermentations during the batch acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE-) fermentation process. J Molec Microbiol Biotechnol 2 95-100... 

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