Biobutanol Production Research Articles

Biobutanol production from sustainable biomass process of anaerobic ABE fermentation for industrial applications.

The growing population increases the need to develop advanced biological methods for utilizing renewable and sustainable resources to produce environmentally friendly biofuels. Currently, energy resources are limited for global demand and are constantly depleting and creating environmental problems. Some higher chain alcohols, like butanol and ethanol, processing similar properties to gasoline, can be alternate sources of biofuel. However, the industrial production of these alcohols remains challenging because they cannot be efficiently produced by microbes naturally. Therefore, butanol is the most interesting biofuel candidate with a higher octane number produced naturally by microbes through Acetone-Butanol-Ethanol fermentation. Feedstock selection as the substrate is the most crucial step in biobutanol production. Lignocellulosic biomass has been widely used to produce cellulosic biobutanol using agricultural wastes and residue. Specific necessary pretreatments, fermentation strategies, bioreactor designing and kinetics, and modeling can also enhance the efficient production of biobutanol. The recent genetic engineering approaches of gene knock in, knock out, and overexpression to manipulate pathways can increase the production of biobutanol in a user friendly host organism. So far various genetic manipulation techniques like antisense RNA, TargeTron Technology and CRISPR have been used to target Clostridium acetobutylicum for biobutanol production. This review summarizes the recent research and development for the efficient production of biobutanol in various aspects.

Combination of pH adjusting and intermittent feeding can improve fermentative acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) production from steam exploded corn stover

Steam explosion (SE) is an effective and industrially scalable lignocellulose pretreatment method that can be used for second-generation acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) fermentation. Nevertheless, a series technical barrier including the high inhibitors content in hydrolysate, and low concentration and low yield of ABE production always hindered the availability of the SE technique. In this study, aiming to solve the above obstacles and boosting cellulosic ABE production, the ABE fermentation process was intensified by a novel fed-batch strategy that combined the pH adjusting with intermittent feeding. Results revealed that maintaining the pH at 6.5 for initial 12 h of cultivation ensures the smoothly shifting of the acidogenesis phase to solventogenesis phase of the C. acetobutylicum cells, so that avoided the acid crash. While the lag period of fermentation was obvious shorted by intermittent feeding the concentrated SE hydrolysate into the dilute broth. Consequentially, 17.75 g/L of ABE (containing 11.75 g/L of butanol) can be obtained after 48 h of inoculation, with the yield and productivity of ABE were 0.36 g/g (of sugars) and 0.37 g/L‧h, respectively. Correspondingly, 194.9 g of ABE (including 129.0 g of butanol) can be produced from 1 kg of dried corn stover. Therefore, the novel process intensifying method could obviously improve the biobutanol production, which showed high potential and applicability in large-scale ABE productions.

Biobutanol Production from Rice Husk

Abstract: This research aimed to study biobutanol production using Lignocellulosic renewable substrate Rice Husk, carried out using Clostridium acetobutylicum MTCC 11274 via the Separate hydrolysis and fermentation (SHF) process. The simple sugars were exposed using a delignification process with different concentrations of Ammonia solution and some were hydrolyzed using conc. H2SO4 after getting treated with ammonia. The sugars were estimated using DNSA Method after which samples were fermented. The concentration of Biobutanol was estimated using GC-MS showing 2.2 gm/L in one of the tested samples.

Current progress on engineering microbial strains and consortia for production of cellulosic butanol through consolidated bioprocessing.

In the last decades, fermentative production of n-butanol has regained substantial interest mainly owing to its use as drop-in-fuel. The use of lignocellulose as an alternative to traditional acetone-butanol-ethanol fermentation feedstocks (starchy biomass and molasses) can significantly increase the economic competitiveness of biobutanol over production from non-renewable sources (petroleum). However, the low cost of lignocellulose is offset by its high recalcitrance to biodegradation which generally requires chemical-physical pre-treatment and multiple bioreactor-based processes. The development of consolidated processing (i.e., single-pot fermentation) can dramatically reduce lignocellulose fermentation costs and promote its industrial application. Here, strategies for developing microbial strains and consortia that feature both efficient (hemi)cellulose depolymerization and butanol production will be depicted, that is, rational metabolic engineering of native (hemi)cellulolytic or native butanol-producing or other suitable microorganisms; protoplast fusion of (hemi)cellulolytic and butanol-producing strains; and co-culture of (hemi)cellulolytic and butanol-producing microbes. Irrespective of the fermentation feedstock, biobutanol production is inherently limited by the severe toxicity of this solvent that challenges process economic viability. Hence, an overview of strategies for developing butanol hypertolerant strains will be provided.

Technoeconomic analysis of broccoli biorefineries for polyphenol extraction and biobutanol production

Fossil resources dominate the energy supply. In 2019, the total energy supply worldwide accounted for 606 exajoules (EJ), of which fossil fuels (oil, coal, and gas) had a share of 81% (490 EJ). The biorefinery concept proposes the synthesis of renewable energies as an alternative to fossil carburants. As a second-generation biofuel, biobutanol has outstanding characteristics and can be obtained from agricultural residues and organic wastes; however, its bioprocessing is not economically feasible using current methodologies. In 2021, the global production of broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. Italica) was 25.5 million tons; being the fifth top producer, Mexico generated 687,000 tons of this vegetable. In this work we propose a production design for the synthesis of biobutanol and the recovery of valuable byproducts, like high-value polyphenolic compounds, from broccoli residues, abundant in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico. For the transformation of the substrate a biochemical matrix was proposed for its composition, as well as a biotechnological route that follows a general path with the acid pretreatment of biomass, enzymatic hydrolysis, and acetone-biobutanol-ethanol (ABE) fermentation using anaerobic bacteria. The outlined biorefinery integrates conventional methods in three methodological pathways and a hybrid model for the downstream process. With the aim of visualizing the global economic performance and evaluating a possible reduction in production costs, we performed a technoeconomic analysis of the designed second generation biorefinery plant. The economic evaluation was carried out using SuperPro Designer® V 12.0. The results confirm the enormous dependence that this type of biorefinery suffers from energy demands. We found that by implementing strategic adaptations to the downstream process operating costs can be considerably reduced. However, to achieve full financial efficiency in the production of biobutanol from broccoli residues, it is necessary to deepen the research and development of innovative methods to efficiently separate and purify the final products, as well as novel methodologies for the biotransformation of the described lignocellulosic biomass along the entire technological route. We also found that there is a large opportunity in the valorization of the plentiful broccoli residues generated in the Guanajuato region.

Optimization studies about efficient biobutanol production from industrial tea waste by Clostridium beijerinckii

The current study aims to evaluate industrial tea waste (ITW), which generated massive quantities annually, on biobutanol production by Clostridium beijerinckii. Some critical parameters for biobutanol production such as initial ITW sugar loading (20,40,60,80 g/L), fermentation time (24–120 h), type of nitrogen sources (whey powder and yeast extract) and concentrations (1,2,4,8 g/L), mineral salts such as MgSO4·7H2O (0.05–0.4 g/L), FeSO4·7H2O (0.005–0.04 g/L), ZnSO4·7H2O (0.001–0.02 g/L) were optimized. C. beijerinckii produced the highest total ABE and biobutanol as 9.73 g/L and 6.21 g/L in the presence of 0.1 g/L MgSO4·7H2O, 0.01 g/L FeSO4·7H2O and 0.001 g/L ZnSO4·7H2O with 40 g/L ITW sugar. Furthermore, at optimized conditions, the biobutanol productivity and yield improved approximately 2 and 2.4 times at the end of 96 h compared with standard P2 medium, respectively. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report about using ITW which is a promising feedstock for biobutanol production.

Pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass from sugar bagasse under microwave assisted dilute acid hydrolysis for biobutanol production

Alternative renewable energy sources are the future potential energy that will benefit the country’s overall energy shortage and demand. The efficient biofuel production depends on the viability of the raw material used. The holistic approach of this study is to establish an integrated bioprocess from lignocellulosic material for biofuel synthesis. Sugar bagasse as one of the waste material, can be economically process for sugar extraction used in biofuel production. In this study, the optimum saccharification rate obtained was 43.62% when the biomass was pretreated at microwave temperature of 100 °C for 15 min with 2.5 g catalyst concentration. The results attained shows that hydrolysis time reduces to approximately 40–50% in compare with other traditional heating method. The sample was analyzed by using UV spectrophotometer and HPLC and computed by using Response Surface Method in MINITAB 17, whereas the structural changes of the residue was detected by using ATR-FTIR and ESEM.

A review on the promising fuel of the future – Biobutanol; the hindrances and future perspectives

Biobutanol is considered to be the new generation fuel and it is reported to be an efficient fuel than the other known biofuels due to its both physical and chemical features. The anaerobic fermentation of lignocellulosic biomass is the possible route for the production of biobutanol. The hindrances faced in the production of biobutanol are the cost of production, time consumption, and sporulation stage, which blocks the solvent production. Several works have focused to reduce the difficulties and challenges in biobutanol production. The preparation methodology, reactor designs, and genetically engineered microbes have definitely shown the solution to the problems. In this connection, this review will detail the existing troubles faced during biobutanol production, and the overview of research activities proposed to solve the troubles were also presented. The comprehensive look of production methodologies is briefly explained and the recent genetic engineering approaches and computational ways to improve biobutanol production are covered. Further, the characteristics, engine compatibility of biobutanol, and difficulties towards its commercialization were also projected.

Insights on Guerbet Reaction: Production of Biobutanol From Bioethanol Over a Mg-Al Spinel Catalyst.

The production of biobutanol from bioethanol by the Guerbet reaction is an alternative pathway to renewable sources. The commercial viability of this green route requires improvements in the process development. This study experimentally examines the influence of operating conditions on the performance of a Mg–Al spinel catalyst prepared from hydrotalcite precursors. This catalyst demonstrates an exceptional performance in the Guerbet reaction with a promising activity/butanol selectivity balance, excellent long-term stability, and very-low-carbon footprint (CO2 generation as by-products is minimal). This study showcases a systematic strategy to optimize the reaction parameters in the Guerbet reaction for biobutanol production using an advanced spinel catalyst. Upon carefully adjusting temperature, pressure, space velocity, and reactants co-feeding, very promising conversion (35%) and butanol selectivity values (48%) were obtained.

Technoeconomic analysis and environmental sustainability estimation of bioalcohol production from barley straw

European Union bioeconomy policy emphasizes that the production of renewable transportation fuels should replace fossil fuels as much as possible. In particular, the utilization of waste or side-stream lignocellulosic materials for fuel production is highly recommended. Moreover, future crises forcing a reliance on locally available sources for fuels and energy may become increasingly common. Barley straw, a common agricultural residue in northern Europe, is a potential raw material for bioalcohol production via fermentation. In this study, the technoeconomic and environmental sustainability of bioethanol and biobutanol production from barley straw were evaluated. When compared with fossil gasoline production and use, the greenhouse gas emissions reduction 77.6% and 72.1% were achieved for ethanol and butanol production, respectively. Thus, the emission reduction of 65% for biofuels demanded by the European Union renewable energy directive was achieved in both biofuel production processes evaluated. However, our results indicated that ethanol production from barley straw, a well-known and mature technology, was an economically feasible process (NPV positive, IRR 20%) but that butanol production with Clostridium species through acetone-butanol-ethanol fermentation has still technoeconomic challenges to overcome (NPV negative, IRR below 10%). This was mainly due to the low yield and high recovery costs of butanol.

A novel deep eutectic solvent–mediated Fenton-like system for pretreatment of water hyacinth and biobutanol production

A novel deep eutectic solvent–mediated Fenton-like system for pretreatment of water hyacinth and biobutanol production

Oxidoreduction potential controlling for increasing the fermentability of enzymatically hydrolyzed steam-exploded corn stover for butanol production

BackgroundLignocellulosic biomass is recognized as an effective potential substrate for biobutanol production. Though many pretreatment and detoxification methods have been set up, the fermentability of detoxicated lignocellulosic substrate is still far lower than that of starchy feedstocks. On the other hand, the number of recent efforts on rational metabolic engineering approaches to increase butanol production in Clostridium strains is also quite limited, demonstrating the physiological complexity of solventogenic clostridia. In fact, the strain performance is greatly impacted by process control. developing efficient process control strategies could be a feasible solution to this problem.ResultsIn this study, oxidoreduction potential (ORP) controlling was applied to increase the fermentability of enzymatically hydrolyzed steam-exploded corn stover (SECS) for butanol production. When ORP of detoxicated SECS was controlled at − 350 mV, the period of fermentation was shortened by 6 h with an increase of 27.5% in the total solvent (to 18.1 g/L) and 34.2% in butanol (to 10.2 g/L) respectively. Silico modeling revealed that the fluxes of NADPH, NADH and ATP strongly differed between the different scenarios. Quantitative analysis showed that intracellular concentrations of ATP, NADPH/NADP+, and NADH/NAD+ were increased by 25.1%, 81.8%, and 62.5%. ORP controlling also resulted in a 2.1-fold increase in butyraldehyde dehydrogenase, a 1.2-fold increase in butanol dehydrogenase and 29% increase in the cell integrity.ConclusionORP control strategy effectively changed the intracellular metabolic spectrum and significantly improved Clostridium cell growth and butanol production. The working mechanism can be summarized into three aspects: First, Glycolysis and TCA circulation pathways were strengthened through key nodes such as pyruvate carboxylase [EC: 6.4.1.1], which provided sufficient NADH and NADPH for the cell. Second, sufficient ATP was provided to avoid “acid crash”. Third, the key enzymes activities regulating butanol biosynthesis and cell membrane integrity were improved.

Green biorefinery for sugar beet pulp valorisation: Microwave hydrothermal processing for pectooligosaccharides recovery and biobutanol production

The complete valorisation of sugar beet pulp (SBP) through pectooligosaccharides (POS) extraction and biobutanol production was studied. A central composite experimental design was planned to optimise the time and temperature of the hydrothermal microwave-assisted extraction. 59.7% of the POS present in the SBP were recovered, and a prehydrolysate with 31.1 g POS/L was obtained under optimal conditions (165 °C and 12 min). The prehydrolysate was further precipitated by ethanol. One-step and stepwise alcohol precipitation were evaluated. The prehydrolysate:ethanol ratio was increased from 1:1–1:3 in the stepwise precipitation, whereas a ratio of 1:2 was used in the one-step precipitation. The pectin fractions differed from each other in their chemical composition. The molecular weight of the pectin fractions ranged from 474 to 523 kDa, and the degree of esterification of all of them was higher than 50%, so they can be considered high methoxyl pectins. On the other hand, the pretreated solid enriched in glucan was subjected to enzymatic hydrolysis with cellulases and fermented by Clostridium beijerinckii, producing 8.3 g butanol/L after 48 h of fermentation (53 kg butanol/t SBP). As this research has demonstrated, SBP is a suitable feedstock for a green biorefinery approach. The fractionation of SBP by hydrothermal treatment avoids using acid and alkaline solvents and allows high POS and biobutanol production yields.

Exploration of Various Microbial Systems for the Biofuel Production

Fuels on a broad scale are divided into two categories based on their renewability, i.e., renewable and non-renewable. The increasing scarcity, prices of fossil fuels, and the constantly increasing level of CO2 in the environment have led to an immediate need to investigate alternative fuels. Microorganisms are extensively being used for the generation of biofuels. The qualities of E. coli to be accessible to culture and maintenance have made it stand out among the microbes. Their ability to metabolize pentoses further draws it near to being used for biofuel production. Fermentative bacteria, particularly the class clostridia (obligate anaerobe), have been successful hydrogen producers. Dark fermentation employed by clostridia has dual advantages, i.e., production of biohydrogen and waste reduction since clostridia can utilize a broad range of substrates, including organic wastes. Moreover, the application of metabolic engineering can provide additional processes to clostridia required for the efficient production of biobutanol. The review further explores the two yeast systems, conventional and non-conventional systems. Synthetic biology tools have explored the traditional system, which comprises Saccharomyces cerevisiae for commercial purposes. The non-conventional yeast system has several advantages over the conventional ones, like ethanol tolerance, thermotolerance, inhibitor tolerance, and genetic diversity. However, the application of synthetic biology tools is still being explored in microbes like E. coli, Clostridia species, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and Yarrowia lipolytica. The review also incorporates excellent commercial strain features like economical fuel tolerance, inhibitor tolerance, and thermotolerance control on redox balance and yield increases. The main focus is to bridge the gap between lab-scale production and commercialization.

Current knowledge on cyanobacterial biobutanol production: advances, challenges, and prospects

Current knowledge on cyanobacterial biobutanol production: advances, challenges, and prospects

Biobutanol as an Alternative and Sustainable Fuel: A Literature Review

We need investiments in cleaner, renewable and sustainable energy sources to meet global fuel demand. Biobutanol is produced by the biotechnological route, by the ABE fermentation process. Biobutanol as a biofuel has gasoline-like properties, and its energy efficiency is 25% higher than ethanol. The objective of this work was to conduct a literature review on the production of biobutanol and to collect data on the market of this biofuel to understand the challenges involved in the production of biobutanol. We did the systematic review using the inclusion method. We analyzed the biobutanol world scenario and its applicability in Brazil as a solvent in industries.

Coproduction and enhancement of electricity and biobutanol using adsorption carrier solid-state fermentation

BackgroundElectric energy is not collected and utilized in biobutanol fermentation. The reason is that the yields of electron shuttles and nanowires are not enough to gather and transfer all electrons to the electrode in liquid fermentation. However, the solid matrix of the adsorption carrier may be conducive to the collection and transfer of electrons because of its good adsorption and conductivity. Therefore, this first-attempt study coupled microbial fuel cell (MFC) with adsorption carrier solid-state fermentation (ACSF). In addition, the effect and mechanism of adsorption carrier solid-state fermentation on power generation were explored.ResultsThe power generation performance and fermentation performance were improved by ACSF. The power density by polyurethane and carbon felt carrier solid-state fermentation (PC) was 12 times that by no carrier fermentation (NC). The biobutanol yield of absorbent cotton and carbon felt carrier solid-state fermentation (ACC) was increased by 36.86%. Moreover, the mechanism was explored via metabolic flux analysis, cyclic voltammetry and scanning electron microscopy. The results of metabolic flux analysis showed that more electrons were produced and more carbon flowed to biobutanol production. The cyclic voltammetry results revealed that more riboflavin was produced to enhance extracellular electron transport (EET) by ACSF. The scanning electron microscopy image showed that the adsorption capacity and aggregation degree of bacteria were increased on the electrode and nanowires were observed by ACSF.ConclusionsA new fermentation mode was established by coupling MFC with ACSF to improve substrate utilization, which will provide crucial insights into the fermentation industry. In addition, the ACSF is an effective method to enhance power generation performance and fermentation performance.Graphical

Enhanced biobutanol production from starch waste via orange peel doping

Acetone-butanol-ethanol fermentation is a promising bioprocess to produce biochemicals/bioenergy for sustainable development. However, high production cost, especially that associated with feedstocks, hinders its economic competitiveness with fossil-based processes. To reduce the feedstock cost and chemical footprints, orange peel waste rather than commercial chemicals such as yeast extract was used as a cofactor additive to enhance butanol production from source-separated rice waste instead of conventional feedstocks. Results showed that Clostridium sp. strain BOH3 produced 17.7 g/L butanol and 27.6 g/L acetone-butanol-ethanol solvents from 80 g/L multiple-source rice waste when supplemented with orange peel at an optimal dosage of 4 g/L. Compared with rice waste as the sole substrate, doping orange peel with rice waste improved solvent production and productivity by 72.2–101.7% and 242.2–295.5%, respectively. Meanwhile, orange peel accelerated the phase shift of acetone-butanol-ethanol fermentation from acidogenesis to solventogenesis by upregulating amylase- and butanol-dehydrogenase- encoding genes, thereby shortening the fermentation period. Finally, doping orange peel with starch waste reduced the feedstock cost by 69.6% and 97.7%, compared to the scenarios using food waste with yeast extract and glucose with commercial additives, respectively. Therefore, orange peel doping is an effective strategy for sustainable food waste management, and refined source separation policies are accordingly recommended.

Reusing the acetone-butanol-ethanol separated broth as the lignocellulose pretreatment liquor for fresh corn stalk biorefinery

In this study, fresh corn stalk was used as the feedstock for the production of bio-butanol via acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) fermentation, in which process the wastewater from the first stage sugar containing juice fermentation was recycled by ex situ pervaporation and reused as the pulping liquor of the residual corn stalk bagasse (CSB), affording to effective ABE production in the subsequential second stage fermentation process. Results indicated that the juice fermentation wastewater could effectively depolymerize the CSB. Under optimized conditions of the pulping process (180 °C and 10% (w/v) of biomass loading), 32.45 ± 0.85 g/L of total monomer sugars was obtained in CSB enzymatic hydrolysate, which can be directly used as the substrate for the second-stage cellulosic ABE production. Semi-simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (S-SSF) was carried out using the CSB pulps, so that improving the cellulosic ABE production. 10.94 ± 0.65 g/L of ABE concentration with 0.18 ± 0.01 g/L h of productivity were realized. After hybrid the first-stage juice fermentation and the second-stage CSB biotransformation, total 54.07 ± 1.25 g (ABE) can be produced from 1 kg of fresh corn stalk. The alternative process showed great significance in reduction of the wastewater discharge and ensuring high pulping performances.

Biodeinking of waste papers using combinatorial fungal enzymes and subsequent production of butanol from effluent

The present study aimed to enzymatic deinking of waste papers and to valorize the effluent for biobutanol production. Application of fungal enzymatic cocktail (cellulase, amylase, xylanase, pectinase, lipase, and ligninase) on office used paper, newspaper, and ballpen written paper leading to improvement in brightness (84.91, 72.51, 76.69 % ISO), InKd (82.89, 68.95, 76.49%), κ-number (12.9, 13.6, and 13.1), opacity (27.91, 30.07, and 2.85%), tensile strength (49.24, 45.31, and 46.98 Nm/g), respectively and indices were consistent with chemical treated pulps. The quality of effluent generated during enzymatic deinking in respect to BOD and COD level was eco-friendlier than the chemical process. The enzyme-treated effluent was employed as supporting substrate for butanol (18.4 g/l) production by Clostridium acetobutylicum ATCC824. Material balance and life cycle assessment of the whole processes were evaluated to validate its industrial and environmental relevance.