How does ABE fermentation work?
The ABE fermentation is a biphasic process that converts sugars into acids (acetate, butyrate) and solvents (acetone, butanol, ethanol). During the first phase, acidogenesis, the primary products are the acidic metabolites. As the metabolism shifts to solventogenesis, the acids are assimilated into the ABE solvents.
What are the main products of the ABE fermentation process?
Acetone–butanol–ethanol (ABE) fermentation is a process that uses bacterial fermentation to produce acetone, n-Butanol, and ethanol from carbohydrates such as starch and glucose.
What is the procedure of butanol production?
Traditionally, butanol is produced through the fermentation of starch (corn, wheat, cassava, potato) and cane molasses [2]. In an effort to use cheap and readily available raw materials for butanol production, researchers have isolated and improved strains of solventogenic Clostridium species.
How is biobutanol made?
Biobutanol is mainly derived from the fermentation of sugars in organic feedstocks. The most common method of producing biobutanol is the fermentation of simple sugars in biomass feedstock. Butanol is a by-product of this process in addition to ethanol and acetone.
What is solvent fermentation?
Solventogenesis is the biochemical production of solvents (usually acetone and butanol) by Clostridium species. It is the second phase of ABE fermentation.
Who produces biobutanol?
The two primary companies manufacturing biobutanol are Butamax and Gevo. Both companies have registered for on-highway vehicle sales with EPA. As of June 2018, the EPA approved up to 16% biobutanol blends.
Why butanol is the best fuel?
“Butanol is much better. It contains about 30 percent more energy per gallon than ethanol, is easier to handle and more of it can be blended into each gallon of gasoline. Catalysts speed up chemical reactions by lowering the amount of energy needed need to jumpstart reactions.
Why is butanol the best fuel?
Butanol is of interest as a fuel for internal combustion engines. Butanol has a higher energy density and lower vapour pressure than ethanol, which makes it more attractive as fuel or blending agent.
Are there any major problems with ABE fermentation?
Some major problems of butanol production through current ABE fermentation include low butanol yield, product inhibition, multiple end products, low product concentration and high downstream processing cost (Pfromm et al. 2010; Green 2011; Jurgens et al. 2012; Kumar et al. 2012; Kurkijärvi, Lehtonen and Linnekoski 2014 ).
How is the phase separator used in ABE fermentation?
The flashed vapor is directed to a condenser, and the derived liquid is fed into a phase separator, from which an ABE-rich phase and a water-rich phase are received. A vacuum pump is needed to continuously remove the gases and maintain the desired low pressure in the system.
What are the alternative feedstocks for ABE fermentation?
Recent developments in ABE fermentation are based on alternative feedstocks like Kraft paper mill sludge, food wastes and lignocellulosic substrates (Gao et al. 2014; Qureshi, Cotta and Saha 2014; Huang, Singh and Qureshi 2015; Guan et al. 2016 ).
How much butanol is needed for ethanol fermentation?
The classical well-established distillation process as used in the ethanol production process demands around 79.5 MJ kg −1 for butanol separation from a fermenter concentration of 0.5 wt% to a final 1-butanol concentration of 99.9 wt% (Matsumura et al. 1988 ).