Butanol Productionwith High Yield and Carbon Conversion Using Novel Biocatalysts

2016 USDA-NIFA Integrated Award

 

Principal Investigators and affiliations:
PI: Dr. Hasan Atiyeh (Oklahoma State University)
Co-PI:  Dr. Thaddeus Ezeji (Ohio State University)

Funded: $150,000
Start Date: 9/01/2016

End Date: 8/31/2018

 

The overall goal of this project is to increase butanol yield by more than 30% producing up to 40 g/L butanol, or 90 g/L total ABE, and improve the economics of production via the integrated novel conversion process and utilization of lignocellulosic biomass and CO2 (greenhouse gas, GHG).

 

Specific Objectives:

1. Develop butanol fermentation in two-stage reactors with and without in situ ABE recovery.
2. Investigate butanol fermentation with the co-culture in a single bioreactor with and without in situ ABE recovery.
3. Integrate LDMICs tolerance genes (LTG) into the chromosome of Cb to increase catalytic proficiency of lignocellulosic biomass conversion to butanol.

Expected Outcomes

Successful completion of this project will involve development of a novel biocatalytic process with increased conversion efficiency to make biofuels and biobased products. At the conclusion of this project, the factors that allow both microorganisms to thrive in a co-culture environment and the reactor operating parameters that result in maximum butanol productivity and yield will be identified. A process for butanol production from lignocellulosic biomass with high yield and carbon conversion efficiencies compared to current technologies will be developed.