Comparative Analysis and Kinetic Modeling of Acetone-Butanol-Ethanol (ABE) Production in Batch and Continuous Fermentation Using Clostridium acetobutylicum with the Monod-Inhibited Model
Abstract
Biobutanol is a competitive alternative to conventional fossil fuels, and its sustainable production can be optimized through Acetone, Butanol, and Ethanol (ABE) fermentation using Clostridium acetobutylicum. This process typically results in a weight ratio of acetone, butanol, and ethanol of 3:6:1. A critical challenge in ABE fermentation is butanol toxicity, which inhibits Clostridium growth. To address this, continuous fermentation is utilized to prevent butanol accumulation by facilitating its continuous removal from the reactor. This study focused on optimizing butanol production through both batch and continuous fermentation processes, varying the initial glucose concentration in batch experiments. Batch fermentation was conducted at glucose concentrations of 30, 40, 50, and 60 gL-1, with the highest butanol yield and productivity observed at 40 gL-1, producing 0.13 g butanol. g glucose-1 and 0.083 gL-1h-1, respectively. The maximum growth rate of Clostridium acetobutylicum was 0.14 h-1 under these conditions. Significantly, a mathematical model based on the Monod inhibition equation was developed to describe the kinetics of ABE fermentation. This model achieved an R2 value of 0.66 and an SSE of 0.0165, providing a robust framework for predicting fermentation outcomes across varying conditions. Continuous fermentation, initiated at a glucose concentration of 20 gL-1 and a dilution rate of 0.15 h-1, yielded 0.23 g butanol g glucose -1 and a productivity of 0.093 gL-1h-1. These results confirm that continuous fermentation is more advantageous for maintaining high-efficiency ABE fermentation, as supported by the predictive accuracy of the developed kinetic model.
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