Bioethanol Production Through Syngas Fermentation by a Novel Immobilized Bioreactor Using Clostridium Ragsdalei

Abstract

Global energy demand has been escalating creating ever increasing pressure on climate crisis caused by fossil-based fuels. Humankind is now desperately in need of alternative and sustainable energy sources. Therefore, biofuels provide promising solution.
 Amongst the various biofuels, bioethanol from syngas, which is a mixture of, mostly, CO, CO2, N2, H2, and CH4 gases has been drawing increasing attention recently. Regarding this, the conversion of syngas to bioethanol, an alternative biofuel to fossil fuels, is considered a promising approach to reduce the negative effects of global warming by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
 In this study, a novel immobilized cell bioreactor, where Clostridium ragsdalei was grown, was designed and used to achieve an efficient production of ethanol regarding volumetric production. For this purpose, a 300 mL immobilized reactor filled with ceramic balls as immobilization material was set and operated at 30oC throughout the study where CO gas as the main substrate was fed at rate of 6 ml/min continuously. Results showed ethanol and acetic acid concentrations reaching up to 1.4 g/L and 0.2 g/L, respectively, after 600h with a volumetric production rate of 0,0023g ethanol/L/h. We believe, the ceramic ball was used for bioethanol production for syngas for the first time.