In situ carbon dioxide capture to co-produce 1,3-propanediol, biohydrogen and micro-nano calcium carbonate from crude glycerol by Clostridium butyricum

Abstract

Background Climate change caused by greenhouse gas emission has become a global hot topic. Although biotechnology is considered as an environmentally friendly method to produce chemicals, almost all biochemicals face carbon dioxide emission from inevitable respiration and energy metabolism of most microorganisms. To cater for the broad prospect of biochemicals, bioprocess optimization of diverse valuable products is becoming increasingly important for environmental sustainability and cleaner production. Based on Ca(OH)2 as a CO2 capture agent and pH regulator, a bioprocess was proposed for co-production of 1,3-propanediol (1,3-PDO), biohydrogen and micro-nano CaCO3 by Clostridium butyricum DL07. Results In fed-batch fermentation, the maximum concentration of 1,3-PDO reached up to 88.6 g/L with an overall productivity of 5.54 g/L/h. This productivity is 31.9% higher than the highest value previously reports (4.20 g/L/h). In addition, the ratio of H2 to CO2 in exhaust gas showed a remarkable 152-fold increase in the 5 M Ca(OH)2 group compared to 5 M NaOH as the CO2 capture agent. Green hydrogen in exhaust gas ranged between 17.2% and 20.2%, with the remainder being N2 with negligible CO2 emissions. During CO2 capture in situ, micro-nano calcite particles of CaCO3 with sizes in the range of 300 nm to 20 µm were formed simultaneously. Moreover, when compared with 5M NaOH group, the concentrations of soluble salts and proteins in the fermentation broth of 5 M Ca(OH)2 group were notably reduced by 53.6% and 44.1%, respectively. The remarkable reduction of soluble salts and proteins would contribute to the separation of 1,3-PDO. Conclusions Ca(OH)2 was used as a CO2 capture agent and pH regulator in this study to promote the production of 1,3-PDO. Meanwhile, micro-nano CaCO3 and green H2 were co-produced. In addition, the soluble salts and proteins in the fermentation broth were significantly reduced. Graphical Abstract

High level of 1,3‐propanediol production from crude glycerol by Clostridium strain BOH3: critical roles of inoculum and substrate concentration

“…Subsequently, several research groups employed 33-130 g L −1 CG as the sole substrate for clostridial fermentation (Table 1), and produced 3.31-94.2 g L −1 PDO. 1,4,6,18,[22][23][24][28][29][30][31][32] The actual yield of PDO (0.55-0.69 mol mol −1 ) is substantially lower than the theoretical yield (0.84-1 mol mol −1 ) (Table 1). The lower yield of PDO is presumably rendered by the impact of inherent CG impurities such as soap, inorganic salts, methanol/ethanol, sodium hydroxide and nonglycerol organic matters 11,19,22,33,34 (Table 1).…”

“…Using CG as a substrate can offer a sustainable and cost‐effective bioprocess for PDO production. Subsequently, several research groups employed 33–130 g L −1 CG as the sole substrate for clostridial fermentation (Table 1), and produced 3.31–94.2 g L −1 PDO 1,4,6,18,22‐24,28‐32 . The actual yield of PDO (0.55–0.69 mol mol −1 ) is substantially lower than the theoretical yield (0.84–1 mol mol −1 ) (Table 1).…”