Butanol production by Clostridium acetobutylicum in a series of packed bed biofilm reactors

The continuous production of Acetone, n-Butanol and Ethanol (ABE) by immobilized cells of Clostridium acetobutylicum DSM 792 using glucose and lactose as carbon source is presented in this paper. The conversion process was successfully carried out for more than three months in 4 packed bed biofilm reactors (PBBRs) connected in series. The first PBBR of the series (fed with fresh medium) was kept under acidogenesis conditions and the three other PBBRs were kept under solventogenesis conditions.