Abstract:
Biobutanol from lignocellulosic biomass has gained much attention due to several advantages over bioethanol. Though microbial production of butanol through ABE fermentation is an established technology,
the use of lignocellulosic biomass as feedstock presents several challenges. In the present study,
biobutanol production from enzymatic hydrolysate of acid pretreated rice straw was evaluated using
Clostridium sporogenes BE01. This strain gave a butanol yield of 3.43 g/l and a total solvent yield of
5.32 g/l in rice straw hydrolysate supplemented with calcium carbonate and yeast extract. Hydrolysate
was analyzed for the level of inhibitors such as acetic acid, formic acid and furfurals which affect the
growth of the organism and in turn ABE fermentation. Methods for preconditioning the hydrolysate to
remove toxic end products were done so as to improve the fermentation efficiency. Conditions of ABE
fermentation were fine tuned resulting in an enhanced biobutanol reaching 5.52 g/l.
