Process for recovering alcohols in a fermenter

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10961489-B2
Application number	US-201716314209-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 17, 2017
Priority date	Jun 30, 2016
Publication date	Mar 30, 2021
Grant date	Mar 30, 2021

Abstract

The present invention concerns a process for recovering fermentation products present in a fermentation mash produced in a bioreactor ( 9 ), comprising a step a) in which a gas stream ( 15 ) is sent into the fermentation mash under pressure in order to entrain at least a portion of the products and produce a gas stream ( 16 ) which is enriched in fermentation products. The process comprises a step h) for storage of the fermentation gases and the gas stream which is sent to the step a) is constituted by the stored fermentation gases.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A process for recovering fermentation products present in a fermentation mash, which fermentation mash has been produced in a bioreactor, comprising
storing fermentation gases that have been produced in the bioreactor,
sending said stored fermentation gases as a gas stream into the fermentation mash under sufficient pressure to entrain at least a portion of the fermentation products and thereby produce a gas stream which is enriched in fermentation products, and
bringing said gas stream which is enriched in fermentation products into contact with a solvent so as to produce a solvent which is enriched in fermentation products.

2. The process as claimed in claim 1 , in which a fraction of the fermentation mash is withdrawn from the bioreactor, wherein the sending of said stored fermentation gases as a gas stream under sufficient pressure is into said fraction of the fermentation mash to entrain at least a portion of the fermentation products and thereby produce a gas stream which is enriched in fermentation products and a fermentation mash which is depleted in fermentation products, wherein at least of portion of the fermentation mash depleted in fermentation products is recycled to the bioreactor.

3. The process as claimed in claim 1 , in which the sending of said stored fermentation gases as a gas stream into the fermentation mash under sufficient pressure to entrain at least a portion of the fermentation products and thereby produce a gas stream which is enriched in fermentation products is carried out in the bioreactor.

4. The process as claimed in claim 1 , in which the bringing into contact of the gas stream which is enriched in fermentation products with a solvent to produce a solvent which is enriched in fermentation products is carried out by sending said gas stream which is enriched in fermentation products to a gas/liquid absorption section in which said gas stream is brought into contact with the solvent to produce the solvent which is enriched in fermentation products and a gas stream which is depleted in fermentation products.

5. The process as claimed in claim 1 , in which step c) is carried out in the bioreactor, wherein the solvent is an organic solvent which is not miscible with water, and which solvent forms an organic phase floating above the fermentation mash wherein the gas stream which is enriched in fermentation products is brought into contact with the solvent in the organic phase floating above the fermentation mash in the bioreactor to transfer at least a portion of the fermentation products into said solvent.

6. The process as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising regenerating the solvent which is enriched in fermentation products to separate said fermentation products from the solvent and thereby produce a regenerated solvent.

7. The process as claimed in claim 1 , in which the fermentation mash contains fermentation products selected from the group consisting of esters, ketones, aldehydes, carboxylic acids, alcohols and mixtures thereof.

8. The process as claimed in claim 7 , in which the fermentation mash contains butanol, optionally as a mixture with acetone and/or isopropanol and ethanol.

9. The process as claimed in claim 1 , in which the gas stream comprises carbon dioxide, optionally as a mixture with hydrogen.

10. The process as claimed in claim 1 , in which the gas stream is treated before being sent to the bioreactor.

11. The process as claimed in claim 1 , in which the solvent is selected from the group consisting of hydrocarbons with a linear or branched chain, aromatic hydrocarbons, carboxylic acids, alcohols and esters.

12. A process for the production of fermentation products, comprising the following steps:
i. fermenting an aqueous solution of C5 and/or C6 sugars in a bioreactor in the presence of a microorganism so as to produce a fermentation mash containing fermentation products and fermentation gases;
ii. sending the fermentation gas produced in the bioreactor to a storage unit;
iii. sending the stored fermentation gases to the aqueous fermentation broth under sufficient pressure to entrain the fermentation products in the gas stream and thereby produce a gas stream which is enriched in fermentation products;
iv. bringing said gas stream which is enriched in fermentation products into contact with an organic solvent so as to produce a solvent which is enriched in fermentation products;
v. regenerating said organic solvent which is enriched in fermentation products so as to produce a stream which is enriched in fermentation products and a regenerated solvent.

13. The process as claimed in claim 12 , in which the steps iii) and iv) are carried out in the bioreactor or outside the bioreactor, and in which step v) is carried out outside the bioreactor.

14. The process as claimed in claim 12 , in which the fermentation mash contains butanol, optionally mixed with acetone and/or isopropanol and ethanol.

15. The process as claimed in claim 12 , further comprising a step vi) in which a fraction of the fermentation mash is sent to a section for recovery and separation of the fermentation products, said section including at least one distillation unit.

16. The process as claimed in claim 15 , in which the stream enriched in fermentation products obtained from step v) is sent to the section for recovery and separation of the fermentation products as a mixture with the fraction of fermentation mash.

17. The process as claimed in claim 12 , in which the microorganisms are immobilized on a support in the bioreactor.

18. The process as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the solvent is an organic solvent.

Assignees

• Ifp Energies Now

Inventors

• Coupard Vincent
• Gonzalez Penas Helena
• Toth Eszter
• Le Moel Mehdi

Classifications

• C07C45/82

  by distillation · CPC title

• C07C29/82

  by azeotropic distillation · CPC title

• C07C29/80

  by distillation · CPC title

• B01D3/36

  Azeotropic distillation · CPC title

• B01D3/343

  the substance being a gas · CPC title