Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation of cellulosic biomass to acetic acid.

A strain of Clostridium thermoaceticum (ATCC 49707) was evaluated for its homoacetate potential. This thermophilic anaerobe best produces acetate from glucose at pH 6.0 and 59 degrees C with a yield of 83% of theoretical. Enzyme hydrolysis of two substrates, a-cellulose and a pulp mill sludge, yielded 68% and 70% digestion, respectively. The optimum conditions for the simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) were substrate dependent: 55 degrees C, pH 6.0 for alpha-cellulose, and 55 degrees C, pH 5.5 for the pulp mill sludge. In the SSF with alpha-cellulose, the overall yield of acetate was strongly influenced by the enzyme loading. In a fed-batch operation of SSF with alpha-cellulose, an overall acetic acid yield of 60 wt% was obtained. Among the factors limiting the yields were incomplete digestion by the enzyme and the end-product inhibition. In the SSF of pulp mill sludge, inhibitors present in the sludge severely limited bacterial action. A large accumulation of glucose developed over the entire process, changing the intended SSF operation into a separate hydrolysis and fermentation operation. Despite a long lag phase of microbial growth, a terminal yield of 85% was obtained with this substrate.