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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Peoria, Illinois » National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research » Bioenergy Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #336299
Research Project: Develop Technologies for Production of Platform Chemicals and Advanced Biofuels from Lignocellulosic Feedstocks

Location: Bioenergy Research

Title: Butanol biorefineries: Use of novel technologies to produce biofuel butanol from sweet sorghum bagasse (SSB)

Author
item Qureshi, Nasib
item Klasson, K Thomas
item Boddu, Veera
item Liu, Siqing
item Nichols, Nancy
item Saha, Badal
item Hughes, Stephen

Submitted to: Biotechnology for Fuels and Chemicals Symposium Proceedings
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/22/2017
Publication Date: 5/1/2017
Citation: Qureshi, N., Klasson, K.T., Boddu, V.M., Liu, S., Nichols, N.N., Saha, B.C., Hughes, S.R. 2017. Butanol biorefineries: Use of novel technologies to produce biofuel butanol from sweet sorghum bagasse (SSB) [abstract]. Symposium for Biotechnology for Fuels and Chemicals, May 1-4, 2017, San Francisco, CA.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: In order to produce butanol biofuel at a competitive price, agricultural residues such as SSB should be used. This feedstock was studied as a substitute to corn to lower feedstock costs and broaden beyond a food crop. In addition, cutting edge science & technology was applied. In these studies we used SSB at high solids concentration ranging from 86 to 300 gL-1, application of milder pretreatment conditions, and simultaneous removal of toxic butanol by vacuum. The SSB was pretreated using hot water at 190 deg C for a minimum amount of time (< 1 min). This was followed by enzymatic saccharification at 45 deg C. Under these pretreatment and hydrolysis conditions, total sugars up to 78 gL-1 were released from 200 gL-1 SSB. Fermentation of this hydrolyzate resulted in the production of over 15 gL-1 total acetone butanol ethanol (ABE) with ABE productivity of 0.28 gL-1h-1 and yield of 0.40-0.42. Hydrolyzates obtained from 250-300 gL-1 SSB were found to be toxic to the butanol producing culture. To ferment this toxic hydrolyzate, fed-batch fermentation in combination with simultaneous product recovery using vacuum is recommended. The results obtained in these studies will be presented.