Pervaporative butanol fermentation by Clostridium acetobutylicum B18

Extractive acetone‐butanol–ethanol (ABE) fermentation was carried out successfully using pervaporation and a low‐acid‐producing Clostridium acetobutylicum B18. A pervaporation module with 0.17 m2 of surface area was made of silicone membrane of 240 μm thickness. Pervaporation experiments using make‐up solutions showed that butanol and acetone fluxes increased linearly with their concentrations in the aqueous phase. Fickian diffusion coefficients were constants for fixed air flow rates, and increased at higher sweep air flow rates. During batch and fed‐batch fermentations, pervaporation at an air flow rate of 8 L/min removed butanol and acetone efficiently. Butanol concentration was maintained below 4.5 g/L even though Clostridium acetobutylicum B18 produced butanol steadily. Pervaporation could not remove organic acids efficiently, but organic acids did not accumulate because strain B18 produced little organic acid and recycled added organic acids efficiently. With pervaporation, glucose consumption rate increased compared to without pervaporation, and up to 160 g/L of glucose was consumed during 80 h. Cell growth was not inhibited by possible salt accumulation or oxygen diffusion through the silicone tubing. The culture volume was maintained relatively constant during fed‐batch operation because of an offsetting effect of water and product removal by pervaporation and addition of nutrient supplements. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.