Butanol Fermentation by Clostridium saccharobutylicum Based on Poplar Wood

As a potential source of liquid fuels, lignocellulosic material is an alternative to plant-derived starch and sugar, which are urgently needed to meet global demands for food. The utilization of wood as feedstock for bioconversion to biobutanol fuel not only could reduce production costs, but also could increase raw material supply. However, little is known about biobutanol fermentation based on lignocellulosic material from wood. In this paper, biobutanol fermentation from poplar wood hydrolysates by Clostridium saccharobutylicum was investigated under three different conditions. The desired biobutanol and ABE yields reached 6.98 and 9.64 g/L, respectively, and 69.8 g biobutanol and 96.4 g ABE per kg of poplar wood were achieved. Fermentation of hydrolysates with no additives and with extra mixed carbon sources to biobutanol was also studied. The predicted results were confirmed: in the former, the production of biobutanol and ABE were 4.88 and 6.63 g/L, respectively; in the latter, the biobutanol and ABE yields reached 7.28 and 10.18 g/L, respectively. The results indicated that poplar wood is a potential renewable raw material suitable for biobutanol production, and that Clostridium saccharobutylicum BAA-117 is a promising biobutanol producer for such conversion.