Bioprocessing strategies for biobutanol production from agricultural wastes

Interest in producing renewable biofuel such as biobutanol to replace demand on non-renewable petrol fuel showed an increasing trend in recent years. Many researchers are investigating numerous approaches in order to produce biobutanol at a low cost. Such efforts are by considering suitable feedstock materials and bioprocessing technologies. Renewable materials such as starch, lignocellulosic, and algal biomass are some of the common feedstocks utilized for biobutanol production, and each of them has their own advantages, yet possess several disadvantages that need improvement. Low sugar concentration generated from hydrolysis of biomass, inefficient microorganism and unsuitability of conventional batch fermentation have been noted as the main reasons for a low biobutanol yield and productivity. Therefore, several fermentation operations and integrated bioprocessing technologies have been developed to improve the biobutanol production efficiency. The challenges and the appropriateness of the technologies on different types of agricultural wastes are being presented in this talk

Modification of pathways with Pseudomonas for the extraction and subsequent conversion of algae to butanol

As the demand for alternative fuels steadily increases, algae continue to be an excellent source for the development of biofuels. While algae have exhibited substantial potential for butanol production, there are limitations when it comes to the extraction process-its inability to withdraw oils and sugars usable for fermentation from cell walls. The genes of two bacteria were combined, creating a new organism that can both extract sugars and oils from algal cell walls and create butanol, simplifying the fermentation process while increasing efficiency. Pseudomonas flourescens, an obligate aerobe, has been shown in literature to degrade these cell walls to make sugars and oils available for fermentation. An anaerobic bacterium, Clostridium acetobutylicum, is commonly used for biofuel production because its ability to make biobutanol, among other biofuels. P. flourescens is absent one gene, alcohol dehydrogenase (AdhE2), from C. acetobutylicum\u27s biobutanol pathway. The AdhE2 gene was extracted from C. acetobutylicum using PCR and then cloned it into P. flourescens using the pCN51 shuttle vector. The newly created organism that can both create biobutanol and perform algae lysis was cultured in glucose rich nutrient broth. Biobutanol production was confirmed using gas chromatography and HPL

Factorial Experimental Design for Biobutanol Production from Oil Palm Frond (OPF) Juice by Clostridium Acetobutylicum ATCC 824

Biobutanol is an alternative energy that can be promising as the future energy source. It can be produced from natural and renewable agriculture wastes such as oil palm frond (OPF) juice by microbes. Clostridium acetobutylicum has the ability to ferment the sugars in OPF juice as carbon source into biobutanol. This research aimed to investigate the effect of independent and interaction factors; initial pH medium (5-7), inoculum size (1-20%), initial total sugars concentration (40-60 g/L), temperature (32-42°C) and yeast extract concentration (1-10 g/L) on the production of biobutanol from oil palm frond (OPF) juice by C. acetobutylicum ATCC 824 using a two level half factorial design which have been developed by the Design Expert Software Version 7.1. Based on the factorial analysis, it was observed that the most significant parameter was yeast extract concentration, which contributes 8.20%, followed by inoculum size and temperature, which were contribute 7.84% and 7.56%, respectively. The analysis showed the R2 value for the model was 0.9805 and the interaction between inoculum size and temperature gave the highest influenced to the fermentation process with contribution up to 16.31%. From the validation experiments, the experimental values were reasonable close to the predicted values with only 5.87% and 10.09% of errors. It confirmed the validity and adequacy of the predicted models. Hence, the data analysis developed from the Design Expert Software could reliably predict biobutanol yields. This study indicated that each of the factors may affect the fermentation process of the biobutanol production

Biobutanol production through simultaneous saccharification and fermentation

Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation is a feasible process for biobutanol production. Biobutanol serves as alternative to the depleting fossil fuels source and also environmental friendly. Oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) is one of the renewable lignocellulosic biomass that can be utilized as substrates in the process. Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation incorporates one-step addition of microorganism, cellulase enzymes and biomass in a vessel. The simultaneous system works by employing Clostridium acetobutylicum ATCC 824 with Acremonium cellulase to hydrolyze 2% NaOH alkali pretreated OPEFB with autoclave. Enhancement of simultaneous saccharification and fermentation through one factor at a time followed by statistical analysis using Response Surface Methodology (RSM) aimed for high yield of biobutanol. The system will further undergo scaling up process. This research is expected to contribute to fuel sustainability in the future

Bioalcohol As Green Energy -A review

Bioethanol has now become a big industry and this industry seems to become much bigger in the near future. People regard bioethanol as renewable and sustainable new energy source, although some contraversies such as the rivalry of bioethanol for human food widely exist. Actually, bioethanol can also be a good source of basic raw materials. In early days, ethylene, the most important organic chemical raw material, was produced from dehydration of ethanol. Later, things reversed as petrochemical industry well developed after World War II, when industrial ethanol was mostly produced mainly via hydration of ethylene. Now that bioethanol has already become an important fuel blender, we should well expect that bioethanol should also be new resources for basic organic raw materials, as well as other more valuable fine and specialty chemicals, instead of merely a fuel blender. Nowadays, countless new bioethanol companies are setting up every day. It should lead to more research on bioethanol also as a starting raw chemical material

Acetone-butanol fermentation of lignocellulosic hydrolysates for the butanol production

In the present study, we evaluated of the use of lignocellulosic hydrolysates for the biobutanol production. We used an acid hydrolysate of spruce and an enzymatic hydrolysate of miscanthus cellulose. The obtained results confirmed the efficacy of the hydrolysates as sources of reducing substances. For the most successful application of the lignocellulosic hydrolysates for biobutanol production, it is necessary to apply an inexpensive and effective detoxification method and to use of cost-effective growth factors