Two-Organism Concept for the Conversion of Cellulosic Feedstocks to Fuel
Abstract
The goal of this work was to investigate the potential of an anaerobic nitrogen-fixing, hydrogen-generating bacterial culture (cpnit-1 variant of Clostridium phytofermentans) coupled with a carbon dioxide- (CO:) fixing, oil-generating algae culture (Chlorella vulgaris). In the anaerobic fermentation step, cpnit-1 produced 1.124 mol of hydrogen, 1.41 mol of CO2, and 0.5 mmol of non-cellular organic ammonia (most of the ammonia was presumably incorporated into cells for growth). The production of ethanol, expected to be low under hydrogen-generating conditions, was measured as 3.53 umol ethanol per mole of glucose consumed. The C. vulgaris algae culture subsequently assimilated, within detection limits, all of CO2 produced by the bacteria and yielded 1.15 mol of oxygen per mole of glucose consumed. Various approaches were tested to purify the oil; the highest yield of algae oil was obtained using an isopropanol, water, and hexane mixture for extraction. To our knowledge, this represents the first demonstration of a hydrogen and oil-producing biological system capable of fixing its own nitrogen and CCK This approach offers advantages in terms of mass balance and environmental impact.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 2010
- Accession Number
- ADA530347
Entities
People
- Amanda E. Chambers
- Steven P. Harvey
Organizations
- Edgewood Chemical Biological Center