A circular bioeconomy concept: Enhanced bioconversion of crude glycerol into 1,3-PDO production by immobilized Clostridium butyricum JKT 37

• Published in: Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy
• Main Author: Tey K.Y.; He N.; Luthfi A.A.I.; Woon K.S.; Lee C.T.; Manaf S.F.A.; Yeap S.K.; Mahmod S.S.; Silvamany H.; Tan J.P.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH 2024
• Online Access: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85206805399&doi=10.1007%2fs10098-024-03025-4&partnerID=40&md5=53f9a67ccef347e31056830b08a87ed5

Aligning with Sustainable Development Goal 12, National Biomass Action Plan 2023–2030 and the transition of carbon-emission-intensive development to low-carbon solutions, this research proposes a circular bioeconomy concept that utilizes byproduct of the biodiesel industry to create high-value 1,3-propanediol (1,3-PDO). There are limited studies on the bioconversion of biodiesel-derived glycerol into 1,3-PDO via the immobilized cell biocatalysis route. In this study, the production of 1,3-PDO was enhanced by the wild-type Clostridium butyricum JKT 37 immobilized on the coconut shell activated carbon (CSAC) as supporting material using the acidic-pretreated glycerol as a carbon source. Among various mesh sizes of CSAC tested, 6–12 mesh immobilization material had enhanced cell density by about 94.43% compared to the suspended cell system. The immobilized cell fermentation using pretreated glycerol produced 8.04 ± 0.34 g/L 1,3-PDO with 0.62 ± 0.02 mol/mol of yield, 15.81% and 27.78% higher than the control, respectively. Five repeated batches of immobilized cell fermentation had resulted in the average 1,3-PDO titer, yield, and productivity of 16.40 ± 0.58 g/L, 0.60 ± 0.03 mol/mol, and 0.68 ± 0.02 g/L.h, respectively, with the biochemical equation of C3H8O2+0.18NH3→0.60C3H8O2+0.06C4H8O2+0.04C2H4O2+0.18C4H7O2N+0.93H2O+0.16CO2. The metabolism pathway gradually shifted to a reductive branch when immobilized cells were reused in repeated batch fermentation, proven by the reduction in organic acid formation, increased ratio of 1,3-PDO-to-total organic acids, and experimental stoichiometry. An inclusive investigation on the variations of glycerol source and their impact on the carbonized immobilizer performance was conducted. Graphical abstract: (Figure presented.) © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2024.