Electrolytic Membrane Extraction Enables Production of Fine Chemicals from Biorefinery Sidestreams

Andersen, Stephen; Hennebel, Tom; Gildemyn, Sylvia; Coma, Marta; Desloover, Joachim; Berton, Jan; Tsukamoto, Junko; Stevens, Christian V.; Rabaey, Korneel

doi:10.1021/es500483w

Cited by 104 publications

(93 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Optimization of other parts of the electrochemical hardware such as the ion-exchange membrane and the current-collecting structure for MES processes are also ongoing (Varcoe et al, 2014). For example, it has been suggested that anion-exchange membranes can be exploited in the in situ selective extraction of acetate produced by MES at a lower energetic cost (Andersen et al, 2014). Furthermore, understanding in detail how electrons are transferred from the cathode to the microbial catalyst will help devise better-designed strategies to improve all aspects of MES.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electrifying microbes for the production of chemicals

2015

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Powering microbes with electrical energy to produce valuable chemicals such as biofuels has recently gained traction as a biosustainable strategy to reduce our dependence on oil. Microbial electrosynthesis (MES) is one of the bioelectrochemical approaches developed in the last decade that could have critical impact on the current methods of chemical synthesis. MES is a process in which electroautotrophic microbes use electrical current as electron source to reduce CO2 to multicarbon organics. Electricity necessary for MES can be harvested from renewable resources such as solar energy, wind turbine, or wastewater treatment processes. The net outcome is that renewable energy is stored in the covalent bonds of organic compounds synthesized from greenhouse gas. This review will discuss the future of MES and the challenges that lie ahead for its development into a mature technology.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electrifying microbes for the production of chemicals

2015

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“…One obvious approach to resolve this issue would be to concentrate acetic acid before lipid conversion. However, concentration of dilute acetic acid would introduce high costs at an industrial scale (3,19). Furthermore, the use of concentrated acetic acid in a fermentation process may result in significant carbon losses due to incomplete consumption by the cells and…”

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Application of metabolic controls for the maximization of lipid production in semicontinuous fermentation

Liu

Qiao

et al. 2017

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Acetic acid can be generated through syngas fermentation, lignocellulosic biomass degradation, and organic waste anaerobic digestion. Microbial conversion of acetate into triacylglycerols for biofuel production has many advantages, including low-cost or even negative-cost feedstock and environmental benefits. The main issue stems from the dilute nature of acetate produced in such systems, which is costly to be processed on an industrial scale. To tackle this problem, we established an efficient bioprocess for converting dilute acetate into lipids, using the oleaginous yeast Yarrowia lipolytica in a semicontinuous system. The implemented design used low-strength acetic acid in both salt and acid forms as carbon substrate and a cross-filtration module for cell recycling. Feed controls for acetic acid and nitrogen based on metabolic models and online measurement of the respiratory quotient were used. The optimized process was able to sustain high-density cell culture using acetic acid of only 3% and achieved a lipid titer, yield, and productivity of 115 g/L, 0.16 g/g, and 0.8 g·L −1 ·h −1 , respectively. No carbon substrate was detected in the effluent stream, indicating complete utilization of acetate. These results represent a more than twofold increase in lipid production metrics compared with the current best-performing results using concentrated acetic acid as carbon feed.lipid production | acetate | tangential filtration | dynamic modeling | exhaust gas analysis

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“…fermenters) [90]. Membrane Electrolysis (ME) was also showed successful for the extraction of carboxylates from cathode to anode compartment, combined with Biphasic Esterification (BE) for the production of fine chemicals [91]; similar concept could be coupled to microbial electrosynthesis of acetate from CO 2 .…”

Section: Microbial Electrosynthesis From Co2 To Organics-a Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Membrane Electrolysis (ME) was also showed successful for the extraction of carboxylates from cathode to anode compartment, combined with Biphasic Esterification (BE) for the production of fine chemicals [91]. A similar concept could be coupled to microbial electrosynthesis of acetate with the recirculation of the acetate in a separate reactor where the esterification reaction takes place, as represented in Figure 53.…”

Section: Case Study Nº1: Co 2 Conversion To Acetate As End-productmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Microbial electrosynthesis from carbon dioxide: performance enhancement and elucidation of mechanisms

Jourdin¹

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Microbial electrosynthesis (MES) of organics from carbon dioxide has been recently put forward as an attractive technology for the renewable production of valuable multi-carbon reduced end-products and as a promising CO 2 transformation strategy. MES is a biocathode-driven process that relies on the conversion of electrical energy into high energy-density chemicals. However, MES remains a nascent concept and there is still limited knowledge on many aspects.It is still unclear whether autotrophic microbial biocathode biofilms are able to selfregenerate under purely cathodic conditions without any external electron or organic carbon sources. Here we report on the successful development and long-term operation of an autotrophic biocathode whereby an electroactive biofilm was able to grow and sustain itself with CO 2 and the cathode as sole carbon and electron source, respectively, with H 2 as sole product. From a small inoculum of 15 mg COD (in 250 mL), the bioelectrochemical system operating at -0.5 V vs. SHE enabled an estimated biofilm growth of 300 mg as COD over a period of 276 days.A critical aspect is that reported performances of bioelectrosynthesis of organics are still insufficient for scaling MES to practical applications. Selective microbial consortia and biocathode material development are of paramount importance towards performance enhancement. A novel biocompatible, highly conductive three-dimensional cathode was manufactured by direct growth of flexible multiwalled carbon nanotubes on reticulated vitreous carbon (NanoWeb-RVC) by chemical vapour deposition (CVD). The results demonstrated that: (i) the high surface area to volume ratio of the macroporous RVC maximizes the available biofilm area while ensuring effective mass transfer to and from the biofilm, and (ii) the nanostructure enhances the bacteria-electrode interaction, biofilm development, microbial extracellular electron transfer, and acetate bioproduction rate.However, for scale-up beyond certain sizes, there are some limitations with the CVD technique. We harnessed the throwing power of electrophoretic deposition technique (EPD), suitable for industrial scale production, to form multi-walled CNT coatings onto RVC to generate a new hierarchical porous structure, hereafter called EPD-3D. A very effective mixed microbial consortium was successfully enriched and transferred to EPD-3D reactors and demonstrated drastic performance enhancement reaching biocathode current density of -102 ± 1 A m -2 and acetate production rate of 685 ± 30 g m -2 day -1 .ii An in-depth understanding on how electrons flow from the cathode to the terminal electron acceptor is still missing but crucial (e.g. for improved reactor design). High rates of acetate production by microbial electrosynthesis was shown to occur via biologically-induced hydrogen, likely through the biological synthesis of metal copper particles, with 99 ± 1% electron recovery into acetate. The acetate-producing bacteria showed the remarkable ability to consume a high H 2 flux (ca. 1.15 m ...

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Electrolytic Membrane Extraction Enables Production of Fine Chemicals from Biorefinery Sidestreams

Cited by 104 publications

References 28 publications

Electrifying microbes for the production of chemicals

Electrifying microbes for the production of chemicals

Application of metabolic controls for the maximization of lipid production in semicontinuous fermentation

Microbial electrosynthesis from carbon dioxide: performance enhancement and elucidation of mechanisms

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