Increased productivity of Clostridium acetobutylicum fermentation of acetone, butanol, and ethanol by pervaporation through supported ionic liquid membrane

Abstract

Pervaporation proved to be one of the best methods to remove solvents out of a solvent producing Clostridium acetobutylicum culture. By using an ionic liquid (IL)-polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) ultrafiltration membrane (pore size 60 nm), we could guarantee high stability and selectivity during all measurements carried out at 37°C. Overall solvent productivity of fermentation connected with continuous product removal by pervaporation was 2.34 g l −1 h −1 . The supported ionic liquid membrane (SILM) was impregnated with 15 wt% of a novel ionic liquid (tetrapropylammonium tetracyano-borate) and 85 wt% of polydimethylsiloxane. Pervaporation, accomplished with the optimized SILM, led to stable and efficient removal of the solvents butan-1-ol and acetone out of a C. acetobutylicum culture. By pervaporation through SILM, we removed more butan-1-ol than C. acetobutylicum was able to produce. Therefore, we added an extra dose of butan-1-ol to run fermentation on limiting values where the bacteria would still be able to survive its lethal concentration (15.82 g/l). After pervaporation was switched off, the bacteria died from high concentration of butan-1-ol, which they produced.

High Ionic Liquid Content Polymeric Gel Membranes: Preparation and Performance

“…1 Ionic liquids have also been successfully applied in a wide range of applications, for instance in asymmetric synthesis, electrochemical applications, extractive separation in biotechnology, [2][3][4] and also in membrane gas separations 5 and pervaporation. 6 Their successful use is based on their extremely low volatility and consequent stability of the membrane compared to traditional supported liquid membranes.…”

Biobutanol from Renewable Agricultural and Lignocellulose Resources and Its Perspectives as Alternative of Liquid Fuels

“…% of polydimethylsiloxane. Pervaporation, accomplished with the optimized SILM, led to stable and efficient removal of the solvents butan-1-ol and acetone out of a C. acetobutylicum culture [198].…”

Extraction‐Fermentation Hybrid (Extractive Fermentation)

“…In addition to the membranes mentioned above, which are solid membranes, supported liquid membranes have also been studied in the pervaporation process to recover alcohol from dilute aqueous solutions (Matsumura and Kataoka, 1987;Thongsukmak and Sirkar, 2007;Izak et al ., 2008). Oleyl alcohol is the common material employed in supported liquid membrane, and a high 180 butanol/water separation factor was reported using a porous PP supported oleyl alcohol liquid membrane in the pervaporation process (Matsumura and Kataoka, 1987).…”

“…A butanol selectivity of 108-141 was reported in this porous PP hollow fiber supported TOA liquid membrane using model butanol solution, and a selectivity of 71-104 was reported using the ABE mixture model solution. Pervaporation via a supported ionic liquid membrane integrated with ABE fermentation enhanced the solvent productivity to 2.34 g/L·h (Izak et al ., 2008). Tetrapropylammonium tetracyano-borate was the ionic liquid used in the study, which was supported by PDMS as a supported liquid membrane.…”