Butanol

About: Butanol is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 6317 publications have been published within this topic receiving 139889 citations. The topic is also known as: butyl alcohol.

Butanol, ‘a superior biofuel’ production from agricultural residues (renewable biomass): recent progress in technology†

Abstract: This article reviews bioconversion of plant materials such as wheat straw (WS), corn stover (CS), barley straw (BS), and switchgrass (SG) to butanol and process technology that converts these materials into this superior biofuel. Successful fermentation of low‒value WS makes butanol fermentation economically attractive. Simultaneous hydrolysis, fermentation, and product recovery has been successfully performed in a single reactor using WS and C. beijerinckii P260. Research on the production of butanol from other agricultural residues including CS, BS, and SG has steadily progressed. Use of several product‒recovery technologies such as liquid‒liquid extraction, gas stripping, perstraction, and pervaporation has been successfully applied in laboratory‒scale bioreactors. It is expected that these recovery technologies will play a major role in commercialization of this fermentation. By employing in line/in situ product‒recovery systems during fermentation, butanol toxicity to the culture has been drastically reduced. In addition to the use of low‒cost plant materials for the production of this biofuel, process integration is expected to play a major role in the economics of this product. © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Integration of chemical catalysis with extractive fermentation to produce fuels

Abstract: The integration of biological and chemocatalytic routes can be used to convert acetone–butanol–ethanol fermentation products efficiently into ketones by palladium-catalysed alkylation, leading to a renewable method for the alternative production of petrol, jet and diesel blend stocks in high yield. Using a method that combines biological and chemical catalysis, Dean Toste and colleagues demonstrate the efficient conversion of acetone–butanol–ethanol fermentation products into ketones via a palladium-catalysed alkylation. With further improvement, this process could provide a means of selectively manufacturing gasoline, jet and diesel blend stocks from lignocellulosic and cane sugars derived from biomass at yields close to the theoretical maxima. Nearly one hundred years ago, the fermentative production of acetone by Clostridium acetobutylicum provided a crucial alternative source of this solvent for manufacture of the explosive cordite. Today there is a resurgence of interest in solventogenic Clostridium species to produce n-butanol and ethanol for use as renewable alternative transportation fuels1,2,3. Acetone, a product of acetone–n-butanol–ethanol (ABE) fermentation, harbours a nucleophilic α-carbon, which is amenable to C–C bond formation with the electrophilic alcohols produced in ABE fermentation. This functionality can be used to form higher-molecular-mass hydrocarbons similar to those found in current jet and diesel fuels. Here we describe the integration of biological and chemocatalytic routes to convert ABE fermentation products efficiently into ketones by a palladium-catalysed alkylation. Tuning of the reaction conditions permits the production of either petrol or jet and diesel precursors. Glyceryl tributyrate was used for the in situ selective extraction of both acetone and alcohols to enable the simple integration of ABE fermentation and chemical catalysis, while reducing the energy demand of the overall process. This process provides a means to selectively produce petrol, jet and diesel blend stocks from lignocellulosic and cane sugars at yields near their theoretical maxima.

Effects of butanol on Clostridium acetobutylicum.

Abstract: The internal pH of Clostridium acetobutylicum was determined at various stages during the growth of the organism. Even in the presence of significant quantities of acetic, butyric, and lactic acids, an internal pH of 6.2 was maintained. Experiments using N,N'-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide indicated that a functioning H+-ATPase is necessary for internal pH control. Butanol, one of the end products of the fermentation, had numerous harmful effects on C. acetobutylicum. At a concentration high enough to inhibit growth, butanol destroyed the ability of the cell to maintain internal pH, lowered the intracellular level of ATP, and inhibited glucose uptake. Experiments done at two different external pH values suggested that the butanol-mediated decrease in ATP concentration was independent of the drop in internal pH. Glucose uptake was not affected by arsenate, suggesting that uptake was not ATP dependent. The effects of butanol on C. acetobutylicum are complex, inhibiting several interrelated membrane processes.