Volatility of the petroleum market has renewed research into butanol as an alternate fuel. In order to increase the selectivity for butanol during glycerol fermentation with Clostridium pasteurianum, butyric acid can be added to the medium. In this manuscript, different methods of extracellular butyric acid addition are explored, as well as self-generation of butyric acid fermented from sugars in a co-substrate strategy. Molasses was used as an inexpensive sugar substrate, and the optimal molasses to glycerol ratio was found to allow the butyric acid to be taken back up into the cells and increase the productivity of butanol from all carbon sources. When butyric acid is added directly into the media, there was no significant difference between chemically pure butyric acid, or butyric acid rich supernatant from a separate fermentation. When low concentrations of butyric acid (1 or 2 g/L) are added to the initial media, an inhibitory effect is observed, with no influence on the butanol selectivity. However, when added later to the fermentation, over 1 g/L butyric acid is taken into the cells and increased the relative carbon yield from 0.449 to 0.519 mols carbon in product/mols carbon in substrate. An optimized dual substrate fermentation strategy in a pH-controlled reactor resulted in the relative carbon yield rising from 0.439 when grown on solely glycerol, to 0.480 mols C product/mols C substrate with the dual substrate strategy. An additional benefit is the utilization of a novel source of sugars to produce butanol from C. pasteurianum. The addition of butyric acid, regardless of how it is generated, under the proper conditions can allow for increased selectivity for butanol from all substrates.
Butanol production by Clostridium pasteurianum NRRL-598 using corn steep liquor as nutrient source