Biobutanol production from corn stover hydrolysate pretreated with recycled ionic liquid by Clostridium saccharobutylicum DSM 13864.

In this study, corn stover (CS) hydrolysates, pretreated by fresh and recycled ionic liquid (IL) [Bmim][Cl], were utilized in butanol fermentation by Clostridium saccharobutylicum DSM 13864. An efficient CS pretreatment procedure using [Bmim][Cl] was developed, giving a glucose concentration of 18.7 g L(-1) using ten times recycled [Bmim][Cl], representing about 77% of that produced with fresh IL (24.2 g L(-1)). Fermentation of hydrolysate I (pretreated by fresh IL) resulted in 7.4 g L(-1) butanol with a yield of 0.21 g g total-sugar(-1) and a productivity of 0.11 g L(-1)h(-1), while 7.9 g L(-1) butanol was achieved in fermentation using hydrolysate II (pretreated by ten times reused IL) with similar levels of acetone and ethanol, as well as yield and productivity. This study provides evidence for the efficient utilization of IL in CS pretreatment for biobutanol fermentation.