Nano-selective, bio-mimetic membranes for integrated biotechnological production of biofuels from lignocellulosic biomass

The fatty acid ester butyl butyrate is a promising substitute for diesel and jet engine fuel, thus being relevant in energy supply for land-based and aviation transport. The building blocks of the ester, n-butanol and butyric acid, are important platform chemicals themselves and can be produced in biotechnological processes based on renewable sources such as lignocellulosic biomass, thereby addressing the transition from a petroleum-based to a sustainable energy supply. Butanol and butyric acid production in bioreactors is hampered by the common challenges associated with biofuel production, such as product inhibition, high downstream processing costs, and low yields. Whilst earlier work suggested a one-reactor system, the recently concluded INDNOR project EcoLodge was based on three reactors, one for the production of butanol, one for butyric acid, in two separate but coupled continuous Clostridium fermentations, and a third reaction system for the enzymatic esterification. The product separation was done with electrophoreses-supported membranes. A significant increase in sugar-to-product yields was achieved, not at least through the simultaneous digestion of C5 and C6 sugars. The project NanoLodge will now target the integration of all three operations into one, with dedicated membranes separating the different reactive systems, with the obvious expectation to further increase the yield whilst generating a highly integrated facility that can be upscaled to serve at large-scale operation. The project is a collaboration between Jadavpur University and the CSIR-Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute (Kolkata, India), specialising in bio-reactors and membrane technology, and SINTEF industry with biotechnology, membrane technology and process technology groups involved, and NTNU adding in competence in process systems engineering. The project is linked to the Norwegian FME Bio4Fuel and various other ongoing EC projects.

The fatty acid ester butyl butyrate is as a promising substitute for diesel and jet engine fuel, thus being of relevance in energy supply for both land-based and aviation transport. The building blocks of the ester, n-butanol and butyric acid, are important platform chemicals themselves and can be produced in biotechnological processes based on renewable sources such as lignocellulosic biomass, thereby addressing the transition from a petroleum-based to a sustainable energy supply. The production of the butanol and butyric acid in bioreactors is hampered by the common challenges associated with biofuel production such as product inhibition and high downstream processing costs and low yields. Whilst earlier work suggested a one reactor system, the recently concluded INDNOR project EcoLodge was based on three reactors, one for the production of butanol, one for butyric acid, in two separate but coupled continuous Clostridium fermentations, and a third reaction system for the enzymatic esterification. The product separation was done with electrophoreses-supported membranes. A significant increase in sugar to product yields were achieved not at least through the simultaneous digestion of C5 and C6 sugars. The project NanoLodge will now target integration of all three operations into one, with dedicated membranes separating the different reactive systems, with the obvious expectation to further increase the yield, whilst generating a highly integrated facility that can be upscaled to serve at large-scale operation. The project is a collaboration between Jadavpur University and the CSIR-Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute (Kolkata, India), specialising in bio-reactors and membrane technology, and SINTEF industry with biotechnology, membrane technology and process technology groups involved, and NTNU adding in competence in process systems engineering. The project is linked to the Norwegian FME Bio4Fuel, but also various other ongoing EC projects.