Production of biobutanol using Clostridia Spp through novel ABE continuous fermentation of selected waste streams and industrial by-products

Abstract

Contemporary issues such as the unsteady prices, economic and environmental costs of petrol as well as various government policies and efforts on increasing the share of biofuels utilised for energy provision have necessitated the development of fuels from alternative clean, abundant and affordable renewable resources. Among the important biofuels gaining significant prominence in recent years is biobutanol. In as much as there are studies on production of biobutanol from wastes, there is paucity of information on biobutanol production from wastes such as wood hydrolysate, pot ale and laboratory hand towel using acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) continuous fermentation process. This study focused on obtaining more information on this through an eco-friendly strategy for renewable, thus bridging the gap in knowledge. This work investigated biobutanol production from selected waste streams and industrial by-products (wood hydrolysate, pot ale and laboratory hand towel) using selected solventogenic Clostridia strains through ABE continuous fermentation process. Wood hydrolysate fermentation broth with C. saccharoperbutylacetonicum NCIMB 12,606 (N1–4) produced a butanol concentration of (2.49 g/L) making up 88.3% of the total solvent concentration. Supplementation with two-fold diluted pot ale yielded a total solvent concentration of 3.66 g/L with butanol representing over 84.1%. Maximum acetone-butanol-ethanol solvents production was obtained when supplementation with two-fold concentrated trypton-yeast extract-acetate medium (TYA) was utilised with total solvent concentration of 9.37 g/L and butanol making up 65.5%. Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation of used laboratory hand towel (LHT) yielded a total solvent concentration of 4.78 g/L with C. saccharoperbutylacetonicum.