Recyclable Extractant Composition for Butanol Recovery
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Solution Overview
Problem
The challenge in butanol production through fermentation is maintaining the efficiency of the extractant over time, particularly during recycle processes, due to oxidation issues with unsaturated fatty acids, which leads to a decrease in antioxidant levels and subsequent oxidation products, affecting the extraction efficiency.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating an effective amount of antioxidants or antioxidant-like compounds into the extractant composition, which can be recycled multiple times by adjusting the antioxidant levels to prevent oxidation, using methods such as supplementation with tocopherols, BHT, or amino acids, and monitoring oxidative stability to maintain extraction efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If unsaturated fatty acids are used as extractant for butanol recovery, then the extractant can be constantly generated by lipase-catalyzed hydrolysis of corn oil, but the risk of oxidation increases due to high polyunsaturated fatty acid content
Solution Approach 1:
Antioxidants (tocopherols, BHT, amino acids) are introduced as intermediary substances that mediate between the unsaturated fatty acids and oxygen, preventing direct oxidation of the extractant while allowing the extraction process to continue. These intermediaries scavenge free radicals and interrupt the oxidation chain reaction.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a protective environment by maintaining anaerobic or microaerobic conditions during fermentation and extraction, effectively replacing oxygen with inert atmosphere to prevent oxidation of the unsaturated fatty acids in the extractant.
2Reliability
If antioxidants are added to protect against oxidation, then oxidation rate is reduced, but the antioxidants are consumed over time requiring supplementation
Solution Approach 1:
The system is designed to self-replenish antioxidants by incorporating amino acids from the fermentation medium that can function as antioxidant-like compounds, and by recycling the extractant phase which retains residual antioxidant activity, reducing the need for external supplementation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements monitoring of oxidation products (aldehydes, ketones, peroxides) and antioxidant levels in the extractant, using this feedback information to determine when and how much antioxidant supplementation is needed to maintain effective protection levels.
3Productivity
If the extractant is recycled multiple times, then process sustainability and cost-effectiveness improve, but oxidation products accumulate reducing extraction efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The patent modifies chemical parameters by supplementing the recycled extractant with fresh antioxidants and adjusting the ratio of recycled to fresh extractant, thereby restoring the extractant's oxidation resistance and extraction efficiency after multiple cycles.
Solution Approach 2:
The system selectively discards the aqueous fermentation medium after butanol extraction while recovering and recycling the organic extractant phase, which contains the unsaturated fatty acids and antioxidants. This allows the valuable extractant to be reused multiple times while removing oxidation-prone components.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach significantly reduces the rate of oxidation in the extractant, allowing for extended recycling (up to 50 recycles) and maintaining high extraction efficiency of butanol, thereby enhancing the sustainability and cost-effectiveness of the fermentation process.
Implementation Method 1
contacting said fermentation medium with an extractant composition comprising an effective amount of antioxidant or antioxidant-like compound, whereby at least a portion of the butanol in the fermentation medium partitions into the extractant
Implementation Method 2
the antioxidant is consumed when it interrupts the oxidation cycle, a sufficient amount of antioxidants or antioxidant-like compounds in the extractant is needed to keep the rate of oxidation at an acceptably low level
Data Source
AI summary
Provided herein are processes comprising providing a fermentation medium comprising a fermentable carbon source, a recombinant microorganism comprising an engineered butanol biosynthetic pathway, and butanol; contacting said fermentation medium with an extractant composition comprising an effective amount of antioxidant or antioxidant-like compound, whereby at least a portion of the butanol in the fermentation medium partitions into the extractant; recovering at least a portion of the butanol and extractant composition from the fermentation medium; recycling the extractant composition recovered in (c) one or more times in the fermentation medium; optionally adjusting the effective amount of antioxidant or antioxidant-like compound in the extractant composition, whereby the rate of oxidation or effect of oxidized products in the recycled extractant composition is substantially reduced and/or avoided such that the extractant composition may be recycled.