In recent years economic, environmental, and strategic concerns over the use of petroleum resources have led to increased interest in renewable resources. Biomass gasification produces a synthesis gas composed of primarily carbon monoxide, hydrogen, and carbon dioxide, which can be fermented into a variety of fuels and chemicals. This study evaluated the performance of a two-stage approach to batch synthesis gas fermentations. The first stage employs a rich medium optimized for cell growth, while the second stage is designed to maximize production of acetic acid from synthesis gas. This two-stage approach is hypothesized to be more metabolically efficient than previous single-stage designs. This study presents the evaluation of known acetic acid producing organisms described in the literature, and efforts to isolate a novel microbial catalyst for synthesis gas fermentations. Finally, new techniques were developed and implemented in order to develop a more effective system for batch synthesis gas fermentations.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:MSSTATE/oai:scholarsjunction.msstate.edu:td-4647 |
| Date | 07 August 2004 |
| Creators | Ford, Jackson Walker |
| Publisher | Scholars Junction |
| Source Sets | Mississippi State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Theses and Dissertations |
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