Production of acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) from concentrated yellow top presscake using Clostridium beijerinckii P260

BACKGROUND Butanol, a superior biofuel to ethanol, can be produced by fermentation of renewable feedstocks such as corn or molasses. Since costs of these feedstocks are high, this biofuel should be produced from economic substrates. Recent studies have identified yellow top (YT) (Physaria fendleri) as an economical feedstock which is currently used for landfill, thus causing environmental pollution. In addition, cutting edge science and technology should be used, such as application of concentrated substrates. This study used concentrated YT ranging from 80 to 150 g L-1. RESULTS At a YT concentration of 125 g L-1, the culture produced 28.8 g L-1 acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) as compared with 18.68 g L-1 using glucose (control) as substrate, which is 154% of the control fermentation. The control fermentation resulted in a productivity of 0.42 g L-1 h(-1), while YT resulted in a productivity of 0.70 g L-1 h(-1). In YT fermentation, specific ABE productivity was 543% of that obtained in the control run. CONCLUSION A YT concentration of 125 g L-1 is beneficial for ABE fermentation. At this concentration, ABE production level, productivity and specific productivity were greatly enhanced. Published 2019. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.