Use of immobilized microbial membrane fragments to remove oxygen and favor the acetone-butanol fermentation

Oxygen-reducing membrane fragments obtained from Escherichia coli were used with Clostridium acetobutylicum (C. acetobutylicum) to provide an oxygen-free microenvironment for the conversion of glucose to acetone, butanol, and ethanol (ABE). The batch fermentation of suspended C. acetobutylicum NRRL-B-643 and its ability to produce solvents in the presence of membranes as the oxygen-elimination agent are described and compared with the conventional sparging technique used to maintain anaerobiosis. The use of membrane fragments to remove oxygen for fermentation by C. acetobutylicum was successful and gave slightly improved results over the use of sparing with regard to lag, biomass, and solvent production (e.g., final butanol concentration of 3.25 and 2.7 g/L, respectively). Solvent production is also reported for a continuous columnar reactor with coimmobilized cells and membranes in kappa-carrageenan gel beads and air-saturated liquid feed.