Alcohol production process
AssigneeLanza Tech New Zealand Limited
InventorsWill David Barker, Bjorn Daniel Heijstra, Wing Chuen Chan, Christophe Daniel Mihalcea, Phuong Loan Tran, Christophe Collet, Jason Carl Bromley, Bakir Al-Sinawi
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The invention relates to the production of products such as alcohols and acids by microbial fermentation, particularly microbial fermentation of substrates comprising CO. It more particularly relates to methods and systems for improving efficiency of production products by microbial fermentation. In particular embodiments, the invention provides a method of controlling substrate supply, such that production of desired metabolites is optimised.
Claims21
1-27. (canceled)
A method of optimizing supply of a CO-containing substrate to a bioreactor for fermentation to produce products including one or more alcohol(s) and/or acid(s) by a culture of one or more carboxydotrophic micro-organisms, said method comprising:
- determining acid production at first and second time points,
- detecting a change in acid production between said first and second time points, and
- changing the rate of substrate supply in response to detection of a a change in acid production.
A method of increasing efficiency of fermentation of a CO-containing substrate in a bioreactor by a culture of one or more carboxydotrophic microorganisms, to produce products including acid(s) and/or alcohol(s), the method comprising:
- providing the substrate such that acid levels are maintained between predetermined threshold concentrations in the bioreactor.
A system for using microbial fermentation to produce products, said system comprising:
- a bioreactor configured to conduct fermentation of a CO-containing substrate;
- determining means for determining acid level in the bioreactor;
- and
- controlling means for controlling a supply of a CO-containing substrate;
- wherein, the controlling means is configured to control supply of a CO-containing substrate in response to a determination of the acid level in the bioreactor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.