Continuous bio-catalytic conversion of sugar mixture to acetone-butanol-ethanol by immobilized Clostridium acetobutylicum DSM 792.

Continuous production of acetone, n-butanol, and ethanol (ABE) was carried out using immobilized cells of Clostridium acetobutylicum DSM 792 using glucose and sugar mixture as a substrate. Among various lignocellulosic materials screened as a support matrix, coconut fibers and wood pulp fibers were found to be promising in batch experiments. With a motive of promoting wood-based bio-refinery concept, wood pulp was used as a cell holding material. Glucose and sugar mixture (glucose, mannose, galactose, arabinose, and xylose) comparable to lignocellulose hydrolysate was used as a substrate for continuous production of ABE. We report the best solvent productivity among wild-type strains using column reactor. The maximum total solvent concentration of 14.32 g L(-1) was obtained at a dilution rate of 0.22 h(-1) with glucose as a substrate compared to 12.64 g L(-1) at 0.5 h(-1) dilution rate with sugar mixture. The maximum solvent productivity (13.66 g L(-1) h(-1)) was obtained at a dilution rate of 1.9 h(-1) with glucose as a substrate whereas solvent productivity (12.14 g L(-1) h(-1)) was obtained at a dilution rate of 1.5 h(-1) with sugar mixture. The immobilized column reactor with wood pulp can become an efficient technology to be integrated with existing pulp mills to convert them into wood-based bio-refineries.