Evaluating the performance of carboxylate platform fermentations across diverse inocula originating as sediments from extreme environments.

To test the hypothesis that microbial communities from saline and thermal sediment environments are pre-adapted to exhibit superior fermentation performances, 501 saline and thermal samples were collected from a wide geographic range. Each sediment sample was screened as inoculum in a 30-day batch fermentation. Using multivariate statistics, the capacity of each community was assessed to determine its ability to degrade a cellulosic substrate and produce carboxylic acids in the context of the inoculum sediment chemistry. Conductance of soils was positively associated with production of particular acids, but negatively associated with conversion efficiency. In situ sediment temperature and conversion efficiency were consistently positively related. Because inoculum characteristics influence carboxylate platform productivity, optimization of the inoculum is an important and realistic goal.

Comparison of three screening methods to select mixed-microbial inoculum for mixed-acid fermentations.

Using a mixed culture of microorganisms, the carboxylate platform converts biomass into hydrocarbons and chemicals. To develop a method that identifies the highest performing inoculum for carboxylate fermentations, five bacterial communities were screened and ranked by three fermentation performance tests: (1) 30-day batch screen, (2) 28-day continuum particle distribution model (CPDM), and (3) 5-month continuous countercurrent fermentation trains. To screen numerous inocula sources, these tests were used sequentially in an aseptic environment. For the batch-fermentation screen, Inoculum 1 achieved the highest conversion. For the CPDM evaluation, the operating map for Inoculum 1 had the highest performance. For the continuous countercurrent fermentation, the train resulting from Inoculum 1 was among the best performers. This study suggests that the three screens are a useful and predictive method for choosing optimal inocula sources. The bacterial community with optimal performance in these three screens could be considered for use in commercial-scale fermentations.

Propagated fixed-bed mixed-acid fermentation: effect of volatile solid loading rate and agitation at near-neutral pH.

To increase conversion and product concentration, mixed-acid fermentation can use a countercurrent strategy where solids and liquids pass in opposite directions through a series of fermentors. To limit the requirement for moving solids, this study employed a propagated fixed-bed fermentation, where solids were stationary and only liquid was transferred. To evaluate the role of agitation, continuous mixing was compared with periodic mixing. The periodically mixed fermentation had similar conversion, but lower yield and selectivity. Increasing volatile solid loading rate from 1.5 to 5.1g non-acid volatile solids/(L(liq)·d) and increasing liquid retention time decreased yield, conversion, selectivity, but increased product concentrations. Compared to a previous study at high pH (~9), this study achieved higher performance at near neutral pH (~6.5) and optimal C-N ratios. Compared to countercurrent fermentation, propagated fixed-bed fermentations have similar selectivities and produce similar proportions of acetic acid, but have lower yields, conversion, productivities, and acid concentrations.

Propagated fixed-bed mixed-acid fermentation: Part I: Effect of volatile solid loading rate and agitation at high pH.

Countercurrent fermentation is a high performing process design for mixed-acid fermentation. However, there are high operating costs associated with moving solids, which is an integral component of this configuration. This study investigated the effect of volatile solid loading rate (VSLR) and agitation in propagated fixed-bed fermentation, a configuration which may be more commercially viable. To evaluate the role of agitation on fixed-bed configuration performance, continuous mixing was compared with periodic mixing. VSLR was also varied and not found to affect acid yields. However, increased VSLR and liquid retention time did result in higher conversions, productivity, acid concentrations, but lower selectivities. Agitation was demonstrated to be important for this fermentor configuration, the periodically-mixed fermentation had the lowest conversion and yields. Operating at a high pH (∼9) contributed to the high selectivity to acetic acid, which might be industrially desirable but at the cost of lower yield compared to a neutral pH.

Investigation of intermittent air exposure on four-stage and one-stage anaerobic semi-continuous mixed-acid fermentations.

This study evaluated anaerobic mixed-acid countercurrent fermentations in both strict S (minimal oxygen) and relaxed R (high oxygen) conditions. In relaxed fermentations, filter solids and liquids were exposed to air for 90 min every 56 h. The total acid concentrations for four-stage trains were 23.0 (4S) and 22.1 (4R) g/L(Liq), and for one-stage trains were 17.2 (1S) and 18.4 (1R) g/L(Liq). The strict and relaxed trains had statistically similar exit yields. The strict trains had significantly more high-molecular-weight carboxylic acids. The relaxed trains had slightly higher conversion and slightly lower selectivity, but not significantly. Air exposure had no significant effect on the bacterial profiles of the strict and relaxed fermentations. For all fermentations, the most abundant bacterial genus was Prevotella, a strict anaerobe. This study shows that the mixed-culture community is oxygen tolerant because it maintains fermentation performance during oxygen-induced stress.