Submitted to: Great Lakes Regional American Chemical Society Symposium
Publication Acceptance Date: October 20, 2004
Publication Date: October 20, 2004
Citation: Qureshi, N., Brining, H.R., Iten, L.B., Dien, B.S., Nichols, N.N., Saha, B.C., Cotta, M.A. 2004. Adsorbed Cell Dynamic Biofilm Reactor For Ethanol Production From Xylose And Corn Fiber Hydrolysate [abstract]. Great Lakes Regional American Chemical Society Symposium. P. 179.

Technical Abstract: Cells of genetically engineered strain Escherichia coli FBR-5, capable of fermenting hexose and pentose sugars, were adsorbed onto clay brick to produce ethanol in a continuous biofilm reactor in an attempt to reduce downtime and improve reactor productivity. Cell adsorption is a simple method for increasing cell density in a bioreactor and improving ethanol productivity. The adsorbed bacterial cells formed biofilms around the clay brick particles and became active when fed with medium or substrate solution. For the present studies, xylose and corn fiber hydrolysate were used as substrates. The reactor was active within a week of inoculation and was operated for over 80 days without interruption. A maximum ethanol concentration of 27.7 gL**-1 was obtained with xylose solution as feed at a dilution rate of 0.08 h**-1 thus resulting in a productivity of 2.21 gL**-1h**-1. In batch fermentation, product productivities were 0.28-0.90 gL**-1h**-1. Further results on the use of corn fiber hydrolysate, effect of different dilution rates, and length of reactor operation will be presented.