Secondary acetate fermentation

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11788103-B2
Application number	US-202016938787-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 24, 2020
Priority date	Jul 25, 2019
Publication date	Oct 17, 2023
Grant date	Oct 17, 2023

Abstract

The disclosure relates to the combination of a primary fermentation that converts gas to acetate with a secondary fermentation that converts acetate to a target product. Preferably, the gas contains carbon dioxide, such that the disclosure enables the fixation of carbon dioxide into useful products. The fermentations may be any combination of aerobic and anaerobic, batch and continuous. The fermenting microorganisms may typically be bacterial or fungal.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for producing at least one target product from carbon monoxide (CO) and optionally hydrogen (H 2 ), or from carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and H 2 , the method comprising:
(i) introducing a gaseous substrate comprising at least CO and optionally H 2 , or at least CO 2 and H 2 into a first bioreactor containing a culture of at least one first microorganism in a first liquid nutrient medium and anaerobically fermenting the gaseous substrate to produce at least one first product selected from the group consisting of ethanol, lactate, and 2,3-butanediol in a first fermentation broth, wherein the first microorganism is a Wood-Ljungdahl microorganism; and
(ii) transferring at least a portion of the first fermentation broth to a second bioreactor containing a culture of at least one second microorganism in a second liquid nutrient medium, wherein the second microorganism is a different species from the first microorganism, and aerobically fermenting the first product to produce at least a first target product in a second fermentation broth; wherein the at least one second microorganism is selected from the group consisting of yeasts, Escherichia coli, Geobacillus thermoglucosidasius, Pseudomonas putida KT2440, Cupriavidus necator/Ralstonia eutropha/Alcaligenes eutrophus, Desulfonatronum cooperativum, Geoalkalibacter ferrihydriticus, Alkalispirillum mobile , and Corynebacterium glutamicum;
wherein the first target product is not a lipid.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first liquid nutrient medium comprises a nutrient that is utilized by the second microorganism but not by the first microorganism.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second liquid nutrient medium is the first fermentation broth.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second fermentation broth is transferred back to the first bioreactor.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first target product is selected from the group consisting of an alcohol, an organic acid, and a ketone.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein prior to transferring at least a portion of the first fermentation broth to the second bioreactor, at least one first product is removed from the first fermentation broth.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein after fermentation in the second bioreactor, at least one first product produced in the first bioreactor is separated from the second fermentation broth.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the culture in the first, second, or first and second bioreactor comprises a co-culture.

9. The method of claim 5 , wherein the first target product is one or more selected from the group consisting of ethanol, acetone, propanol, butanol, 2,3-butanediol, acetate, butyrate, propionate, caproate, butadiene, isobutyl acetate, polyhydroxyalkanoates, succinate, mevalonate, itaconic acid, and monellin.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the steps of:
(i) obtaining a tail gas comprising at least CO 2 and O 2 from the second bioreactor;
(ii) removing at least a portion of the O 2 from the tail gas to form an O 2 -depleted tail gas; and
(iii) recycling at least a portion of the O 2 -depleted tail gas to the first bioreactor.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the removing of at least a portion of the O 2 from the tail gas is accomplished using one or more stages of pressure swing adsorption, membrane separation, scrubbing with a basic solution, absorption using a solvent, or any combination thereof.

12. The method of claim 10 , further comprising recycling the O 2 from the removing of at least a portion of the O 2 from the tail gas to the second bioreactor.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the Wood-Ljungdahl microorganism in the first bioreactor is selected from the group consisting of Acetobacterium, Moorella, Clostridium, Pyrococcus, Eubacterium, Desulfobacterium, Carboxydothermus Acetogenium, Acetoanaerobium, Butyribacterium, Peptostreptococcus, Ruminococcus , and Oxobacter.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the Wood-Ljungdahl microorganism in the first bioreactor is Acetobacterium woodii.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the Wood-Ljungdahl microorganism in the first bioreactor is selected from the group consisting of Clostridium autoethanogenum, Clostridium ljungdahlii , and Clostridium ragsdalei.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein a nutrient is added to the first liquid nutrient medium to increase production of a second product in the first fermentation broth, wherein the second product is transferred in the portion of the first fermentation broth to the second bioreactor and stimulates biomass production in the second bioreactor or is fermented in the second bioreactor to form the first or a second target product.

17. The method of claim 1 , further comprising recovering a gaseous stream comprising CO and optionally H 2 , or CO 2 and H 2 from the first bioreactor and recycling the gaseous stream to the first bioreactor.

18. The method of claim 1 , further comprising recycling at least a portion of the second fermentation broth to the first bioreactor.

19. The method of claim 1 , further comprising removing the first microorganism from the first fermentation broth before passing at least a portion of the first fermentation broth to the second bioreactor and recycling the first microorganism to the first bioreactor.

20. The method of claim 1 , further comprising removing the second microorganism from the second fermentation broth and recycling the second microorganism to the second bioreactor.

21. The method of claim 1 , further comprising using an electrolyzer to generate at least a portion of the H 2 in the gaseous substrate and/or at least a portion of 02 introduced into the second bioreactor.

22. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second microorganism is a yeast.

23. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second microorganism is Escherichia coli.

24. The method of claim 1 , wherein the culture in the second bioreactor comprises a co-culture.

25. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second fermentation broth is more than 1 full pH unit higher than the pH in the first fermentation broth.

26. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first target product is at least one selected from the group consisting of propylene, isobutylene, and ethylene.

Assignees

• Lanzatech Inc

Inventors

• Simpson Sean Dennis
• Gao Allan Haiming
• Conrado Robert John
• Winkler James Daniel
• Mueller Alexander Paul
• Brown Steven
• Tran Loan Phuong
• Koepke Michael
• Mihalcea Christophe Daniel

Classifications

• C12P7/04 Primary

  acyclic · CPC title

• C12P39/00 Primary

  Processes involving microorganisms of different genera in the same process, simultaneously · CPC title

• C12P7/40 Primary

  containing a carboxyl group {including Peroxycarboxylic acids} · CPC title

• C12P7/54

  Acetic acid (vinegar C12J) · CPC title

• C12P21/02

  having a known sequence of two or more amino acids, e.g. glutathione · CPC title