Butanol Production by Clostridium acetobutylicum NCIMB 13357 Utilizing Yeast Industry Wastewater as a Fermentation Medium

Abstract

Increasing fuel costs and global environmental concerns have aggravated the search for renewable energy. Significant progress for biofuels production by microorganisms using many types of industrial and agricultural wastes has been achieved. Yeast Industry Wastewater (YIW) is one of the cost-effective and nutrients rich media that is produced in large quantities in Jordan. This study aims to investigate the ability of Clostridium. acetobutylicum NCIMB 13357 to utilize YIW to produce butanol. As a result, C. acetobutylicum was able to grow and metabolize in agar plates continuing undiluted YIW. Shake cultures of YIW supplied with glucose and ammonium acetate resulted in the production of 11.73 g L-1 of butanol. Butanol production was enhanced in column bioreactor as the total carbohydrates were consumed. Nevertheless, immobilization of C. acetobutylicum in sodium alginates slightly enhanced the production of butanol to reach 12.47 g L-1 under batch fermentation, whereas under continuous operation the maximum production of butanol recorded 18.35 g L-1 and 34.85 g L-1 for total solvents after 96 h of fermentation. Consequently, YIW is a promising media for butanol production with additional benefits of its use with regard to environmental and economic aspects.

Keywords

• clean energy
• environmental friendly
• renewable energy
• waste utilization
• waste to energy