Green Biologics Ltd. has formed an interdisciplinary partnership with the University of Nottingham to demonstrate a novel biological manufacturing (fermentation) process for low cost biobutanol that reduces production costs. The project addresses significant problems with the existing biobutanol fermentation (a) formation of acetone and ethanol co-products, (b) end product (butanol) inhibition which results in complex and dilute solvent streams that are difficult to recover and c) low volumetric butanol productivities from batch operation. The project addresses all three problems by employing metabolic engineering to develop superior microbes that produce butanol as the sole fermentation product. This greatly simplifies product recovery and enables the deployment of novel, extraction technology using water-immiscible ionic liquids. In this project, we will build on GBL’s proprietary high productivity fermentation process to demonstrate an advanced continuous fermentation. This integrated approach to bioprocessing is designed to deliver a step change in performance and process economics. Success on the project will result in lower cost biobutanol leading to faster market penetration for green chemicals and new market opportunities for advanced biofuels.
The main collaborators are: Professor Gill Stephens and Dr Anna Croft at the University of Nottingham.
http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/engineering/departments/chemenv/people/gill.stephens
http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/engineering/departments/chemenv/people/anna.croft
The project is sponsored by the TSB (Technology Strategy Board); the total sponsorship will be €328,400.