Clostridium acetobutylicum

Quote:

Clostridium acetobutylicum, included in the genus Clostridium, is a commercially valuable bacterium. It is sometimes called the "Weizmann Organism", after Chaim Weizmann, who in 1916 helped discover how C. acetobutylicum culture could be used to produce acetone, butanol, and ethanol from starch using the ABE process (Acetone Butanol Ethanol process) for industrial purposes such as gunpowder and Cordite (using acetone) production. The A.B.E. process was an industry standard until the late 1940s, when low oil costs drove more-efficient processes based on hydrocarbon cracking and petroleum distillation techniques. C. acetobutylicum also produces acetic acid (vinegar), butyric acid (a substance that smells like vomit), carbon dioxide, and hydrogen.

Quote: Originally posted by Waffles SS

Anyone has experience or information about this bacteri? Condition?growing? May we can use it for making butanol and acetone like yeast condition for making ethanol? I found place here that sell this bacteri.

This works well and the fermentation is surprisingly hardy. We have a graduate student who has, thus far, proven unable to kill it (I kid, he's great AND Clostridia are spore-formers that are resilient). It appears to yield primarily 2-propanol and n-butanol (most of the ethanol appears related to contamination with yeast). Totally do-able, but the solvent kills the bugs once it gets to useful concentrations. The water;n-BuOH azeotrope is at 92°C and the solubility limit is around 9g/100g.

Grow 'em on sugar (media) with a butyric-acid kicker and exclude air (seal with septa or use other gas-tight technique*--they will sporulate if they get some air, so it's not La Fin Du-Monde) to get them going (this fermentation will gag-a-maggot).

Cheers,

O3

*e.g. methylene blue is a great redox indicator.


[Edited on 28-4-2011 by Ozone]