Summary
Calculation of a “theoretical yield” of microbial process is often a subject of controversy. Theoretical yield values of the solvents (butanol-acetone-ethanol) produced in the cultivation of Clostridium acetobutylicum on glucose have been calculated for 30 different culture conditions. Two different approaches were taken based on expressing the stoichiometric relationship between the substrate and the products of the process. The maximum theoretical yield under acceptable conditions was established ranging from 38.6% to 39.9%. It was considered for an ideal biosynthetic situation when no intermediate acids were left over in the system and no carbon was utilized in the production of biomass. The values of the solvent yield are dependent on the ratio between the solvent products. The coefficients of the process stoichiometric relationship and the ratios between hydrogen gas and butanol are presented for each set of process conditions. A three-dimensional plot of the yield versus the weight fractions of butanol and ethanol in the system has been developed reflecting the continuous variations of this parameter with the solvent ratio.
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Yerushalmi, L., Volesky, B., Leung, W.K. et al. Variations of solvent yield in acetone-butanol fermentation. European J. Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 18, 279–286 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00500492
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00500492