Production of alcohol esters and in situ product removal during alcohol fermentation
First Claim
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1. A method for producing butyl esters comprising:
- contacting butanol produced in a fermentation process with at least one exogenous carboxylic acid and at least one extracellular enzyme capable of esterifying the carboxylic acid with the butanol to form butyl esters of the carboxylic acid;
wherein the carboxylic acid in the fermentation process is present at a concentration sufficient to produce a two-phase mixture.
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Abstract
An alcohol fermentation process and composition that includes production of alcohol esters by esterification of product alcohol in a fermentation medium with a carboxylic acid (e.g., fatty acid) and a catalyst (e.g., lipase) capable of esterifying the product alcohol, such as butanol, with the carboxylic acid to form the alcohol esters. The alcohol esters can be extracted from the fermentation medium, and the product alcohol recovered from the alcohol esters. The carboxylic acid can also serve as an extractant for removal of the alcohol esters from the fermentation medium.
82 Citations
26 Claims
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1. A method for producing butyl esters comprising:
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contacting butanol produced in a fermentation process with at least one exogenous carboxylic acid and at least one extracellular enzyme capable of esterifying the carboxylic acid with the butanol to form butyl esters of the carboxylic acid; wherein the carboxylic acid in the fermentation process is present at a concentration sufficient to produce a two-phase mixture. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24)
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2. A method comprising:
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(a) contacting butanol produced in a fermentation process with at least one exogenous carboxylic acid and at least one extracellular enzyme capable of esterifying the carboxylic acid with the butanol to form butyl esters of the carboxylic acid; wherein the carboxylic acid in the fermentation process is present at a concentration sufficient to produce a two-phase mixture comprising an aqueous phase and a butyl ester-containing organic phase; (b) separating the butyl ester-containing organic phase from the aqueous phase; and (c) recovering butanol from the butyl esters. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26)
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3. A method for producing butanol and butyl esters from a feedstock comprising:
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(a) providing a feedstock; (b) liquefying the feedstock to create a liquefied biomass comprising oligosaccharides; (c) separating the feedstock slurry to produce a product comprising an aqueous stream, an oil stream, and solids; (d) adding the aqueous stream to a fermentation vessel containing a fermentation broth (e) saccharifying the aqueous stream; (f) fermenting the saccharified aqueous stream to produce butanol and concurrently contacting the butanoi with at least one exogenous carboxylic acid and at least one extracellular enzyme capable of esterifying the carboxylic acid with the butanol to form butyl esters of the carboxylic acid wherein the carboxylic acid is present at a concentration sufficient to produce a two-phase mixture; (g) separating the butyl ester-containing organic phase from the aqueous phase; and (h) recovering butanol from the butyl esters; and optionally steps (e) and (f) occur concurrently. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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Specification