Process intensification of cellulosic biofuel production using continuous product extraction with microbubble technology

该项目将研究微泡的应用，用于从嗜热细菌的培养物中连续去除乙醇，该嗜热细菌已知在木质纤维素原料（例如食品加工废物或经处理的城市固体废物）上生长良好。Perelemax Ltd发明了一种廉价产生微泡的新方法，微泡比发酵过程中通常产生的微泡小得多。它们的尺寸意味着对于固定体积，存在高得多的气泡表面积，通过该气泡表面积发生乙醇向气泡的转移。假设细菌能够承受微泡喷射的影响，我们希望证明这种方法可以提高从木质纤维素生产乙醇的经济性，从而降低可持续生产生物燃料的成本。

This project will investigate the application of microbubbles for the continuous removal of ethanol from cultures of a thermophilic bacterium which is known to grow well on lignocellulosic feedstocks (eg food processing wastes or treated municipal solid waste.) Perelemax Ltd have invented a novel method for the inexpensive generation of microbubbles, bubbles which are much smaller than those typically generated in a fermentation process. Their size means that for a fixed volume there is a much higher bubble surface area through which transfer of ethanol to the bubble occurs. Assuming the bacteria are able to withstand the effects of sparging with microbubbles we hope to demonstrate that this approach can improve the economics of ethanol production from lignocellulose, thus reducing the cost of sutainably produced biofuels.