Xiangping Kong

Succinic acid production from sucrose by Actinobacillus succinogenes NJ113.

In this study, sucrose, a reproducible disaccharide extracted from plants, was used as the carbon source for the production of succinic acid by Actinobacillus succinogenes NJ113. During serum bottle fermentation, the succinic acid concentration reached 57.1g/L with a yield of 71.5%. Further analysis of the sucrose utilization pathways revealed that sucrose was transported and utilized via a sucrose phosphotransferase system, sucrose-6-phosphate hydrolase, and a fructose PTS. Compared to glucose utilization in single pathway, more pathways of A. succinogenes NJ113 are dependent on sucrose utilization. By changing the control strategy in a fed-batch culture to alleviate sucrose inhibition, 60.5g/L of succinic acid was accumulated with a yield of 82.9%, and the productivity increased by 35.2%, reaching 2.16g/L/h. Thus utilization of sucrose has considerable potential economics and environmental meaning.

Butanol production from acid hydrolyzed corn fiber with Clostridium beijerinckii mutant

Sulfuric acid treated corn fiber hydrolysate (SACFH) inhibited cell growth and the production of butanol (4.7±0.2 g/L) by Clostridium beijerinckii IB4 in P2 medium. Optimal medium components were determined using fractional factorial design. NH4HCO3, FeSO4·7H2O and CaCO3 were demonstrated to be significant components in the production of butanol. The Box-Behnken design and a corresponding quadratic model were used to predict medium components (NH4HCO3 1.96 g/L, FeSO4·7H2O 0.26 g/L and CaCO3 3.15 g/L) and butanol yield (9.5 g/L). The confirmation experiment, under the predicted optimal conditions, yielded a butanol level of 9.5±0.1g/L. This study indicates that the Box-Behnken design is an effective approach for screening the optimal medium components required for the production of butanol. It also demonstrates that SACFH, which has high levels of inhibitors such as furan and phenolic compounds, may be used as a renewable carbon source in the production of biofuels.

Efficient carbon dioxide utilization and simultaneous hydrogen enrichment from off-gas of acetone-butanol-ethanol fermentation by succinic acid producing Escherichia coli.

The off-gas from acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) fermentation was firstly used to be CO2 source (co-substrate) for succinic acid production. The optimum ratio of H2/CO2 indicated higher CO2 partial pressures with presence of H2 could enhance C4 pathway flux and reductive product productivity. Moreover, when an inner recycling bioreactor was used for CO2 recycling at a high total pressure (0.2Mpa), a maximum succinic acid concentration of 65.7g·L(-1) was obtained, and a productivity of 0.76g·L(-1)·h(-1) and a high yield of 0.86g·g(-1) glucose were achieved. Furthermore, the hydrogen content was simultaneously enriched to 92.7%. These results showed one successful attempt to reuse the off-gas of ABE fermentation which can be an attractive CO2 source for succinic acid production.