Continuous butanol fermentation of starch

A team of researchers from Illinois devised a system that uses a starch solution as feed for a continuous fermentation process using Clostridium beijerinckii BA101 to produce acetone, butanol, and ethanol (ABE). A g L-1 starch solution was fed into the continuous bioreactor at a dilution rate of 0.02 h-1 and starch solution/feed volume (3L) was replaced every 72 h. The system produced 6 g L-1 of ABE. Increasing the feed storage temperature from 19 degrees C to 37 degrees C increased production of 7.2 g L-1. Use of soluble starch boosted output of 9.9 g L-1 ABE at 37 degrees C feed storage temperature.