Fatty acids production from hydrogen and carbon dioxide by mixed culture in the membrane biofilm reactor.
Gasification of waste to syngas (H2/CO2) is seen as a promising route to a circular economy. Biological conversion of the gaseous compounds into a liquid fuel or chemical, preferably medium chain fatty acids (caproate and caprylate) is an attractive concept. This study for the first time demonstrated in-situ production of medium chain fatty acids from H2 and CO2 in a hollow-fiber membrane biofilm reactor by mixed microbial culture. The hydrogen was for 100% utilized within the biofilms attached on the outer surface of the hollow-fiber membrane. The obtained concentrations of acetate, butyrate, caproate and caprylate were 7.4, 1.8, 0.98 and 0.42 g/L, respectively. The biomass specific production rate of caproate (31.4 mmol-C/(L day g-biomass)) was similar to literature reports for suspended cell cultures while for caprylate the rate (19.1 mmol-C/(L day g-biomass)) was more than 6 times higher. Microbial community analysis showed the biofilms were dominated by Clostridium spp., such as Clostridium ljungdahlii and Clostridium kluyveri. This study demonstrates a potential technology for syngas fermentation in the hollow-fiber membrane biofilm reactors.
Department of Chemistry, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, PR China.
Fang
F
Zhang
Jing
J
Ding
Yan
Y
Zhang
Man
M
Chen
Zhao-Wei
ZW
Ding
Mark C M
MC
van Loosdrecht
Raymond J
RJ
Zeng
D018441:Biofilms; D019149:Bioreactors / Q000382:microbiology*; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000378:metabolism*; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D006859:Hydrogen / Q000378:metabolism*
D005227:Fatty Acids; D002245:Carbon Dioxide; D006859:Hydrogen
Fatty acids; Hollow-fiber membrane biofilm reactor; In-situ hydrogen utilization; Mixed culture; Syngas fermentation