Synthesis gas fermentation

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Synthesis gas fermentation , or syngas fermentation for short , is a microbiological process in which a synthesis gas consisting of carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen (H 2 ) and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) is used as an energy source for fermentation .

In this way, the metabolic processes of the microorganisms used can produce chemicals that can be used as biofuels or as platform chemicals in the chemical industry . The main products of this process include ethanol , butanol , acetic acid , butyric acid, and methane .

There are a number of microorganisms that are able to produce usable chemicals and fuels based on synthesis gas, most notably Clostridium ljungdahlii , Clostridium autoethanogenum , Eubacterium limosum , Clostridium carboxidivorans , Peptostreptococcus productus and Butyribacterium methylotrophicum .

The advantages of synthesis gas fermentation compared to conventional chemical processes, for example the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis , lie in the lower process temperatures and pressures and the usability of gases with higher sulfur contents as well as the usability of different ratios of carbon monoxide and hydrogen in the synthesis gas, which leads to purification steps can be saved and hydrogen enrichment is not necessary. In contrast, the limitation of the addition of gas to the fermentation broth, the low volumetric productivity and the inhibition of the organisms by higher product concentrations have a disadvantageous effect .

supporting documents

  1. ^ A b Robert F. Brown: Biorenewable resources: engineering new products from agriculture . Iowa State Press, Ames, Iowa 2003, ISBN 0-8138-2263-7 .
  2. ↑ a b c R. M. Worden, MD Bredwell, AJ Grethlein: Engineering issues in synthesis gas fermentations. In: Badal C Saha (Ed.): Fuels and Chemicals from Biomass. American Chemical Society, Washington, DC 1997, ISBN 0-8412-3508-2 , pp. 321-335.
  3. ↑ KT Klasson, MD Ackerson, EC Clausen, JL Gaddy: Bioconversion of synthesis gas into liquid or gaseous fuels. In: Enzyme and Microbial Technology. Volume 14, No. 8, 1992, pp. 602-608.
  4. ↑ J. Abrini, H. Naveau, EJ Nyns: Clostridium autoethanogenum, Sp-Nov, an Anaerobic bacterium that produces ethanol from carbon monoxide. In: Archives of Microbiology. Volume 161, No. 4, 1994, pp. 345-351.
  5. ↑ IS Chang, BH Kim, RW Lovitt, JS Bang: Effect of CO partial pressure on cell-recycled continuous CO fermentation by Eubacterium limosum KIST612. In: Process Biochemistry. Volume 37, No. 4, 2001, pp. 411-421.
  6. ↑ A. Ahmed, RS Lewis: Fermentation of biomass generated syngas: Effect of nitric oxide. In: Biotechnology and Bioengineering. Volume 97, No. 5, 2007, pp. 1080-1086.
  7. ↑ M. Misoph, HL Drake: Effect of CO 2 on the fermentation capacities of the acetogen Peptostreptococus productus U-1. In: Journal of Bacteriology. Volume 178, No. 11, 1996, pp. 3140-3145.
  8. ↑ a b A. M. Henstra, J. Sipma, A. Reinzma, AJM Stams: Microbiology of synthesis gas fermentation for biofuel production. In: Current Opinion in Biotechnology. Volume 18, No. 3, 2007, pp. 200-206.