Extraction solvents derived from oil for alcohol removal in extractive fermentation

• US 9,206,448 B2
• Filed: 06/17/2011
• Issued: 12/08/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 06/18/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Gevo Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Butamax(TM) Advanced Biofuels LLC (BP PLC)
• Inventors: Anton, Douglas Robert, Cirakovic, Jelena, Diner, Bruce A., Grady, Michael Charles, Woerner, Francis J.
• Primary Examiner(s): PAK, YONG D
• Application Number:
  US13/162,828
• Publication Number:
  US 20110312044A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,635 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A23K 10/38 from distillers' or brewers' waste
• CPC Class Codes: B01D 11/0492 Applications, solvents used
• CPC Class Codes: B01D 21/26 Separation of sediment aided by centrifugal force or centripetal forcecentrifuges B04B; cyclones B04C
• CPC Class Codes: B01D 21/262 by using a centrifuge
• CPC Class Codes: B01D 3/002 by continuous methods
• CPC Class Codes: C07C 29/86 by liquid-liquid treatment
• CPC Class Codes: C11B 1/025 by enzymes or microorganisms, living or dead
• CPC Class Codes: C11B 13/00 Recovery of fats, fatty oils or fatty acids from waste materials
• CPC Class Codes: C12F 3/10 from distillery slops
• CPC Class Codes: C12M 1/00 Apparatus for enzymology or microbiology
• CPC Class Codes: C12M 21/12 for producing fuels or solvents C12M21/04 takes precedence; liquid carbonaceous fuels C10L1/00, solid fuels C10L5/00
• CPC Class Codes: C12M 45/04 Phase separators; Separation of non fermentable material; Fractionation
• CPC Class Codes: C12M 45/09 by enzymatic treatment
• CPC Class Codes: C12N 1/14 Fungi culture of mushrooms A01G18/00; as new plants A01H15/00; Culture media therefor
• CPC Class Codes: C12N 15/00 Mutation or genetic engineering; DNA or RNA concerning genetic engineering, vectors, e.g. plasmids, or their isolation, preparation or purification; Use of hosts therefor mutants or genetically engineered microorganisms, per se C12N1/00, C12N5/00, C12N7/00; new plants per se A01H; plant reproduction by tissue culture techniques A01H4/00; new animals per se A01K67/00; use of medicinal preparations containing genetic material which is inserted into cells of the living body to treat genetic diseases, gene therapy A61K48/00
• CPC Class Codes: C12P 7/16 Butanols
• CPC Class Codes: C12P 7/18 polyhydric
• CPC Class Codes: C12P 7/6418 by hydrolysis of fatty acid esters
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 50/10 Biofuels, e.g. bio-diesel
• CPC Class Codes: Y02W 30/74 Recovery of fats, fatty oils, fatty acids or other fatty substances, e.g. lanolin or waxes

Abstract

In an alcohol fermentation process, oil derived from biomass is chemically converted into an extractant available for in situ removal of a product alcohol such as butanol from a fermentation broth. The glycerides in the oil can be chemically converted into a reaction product, such as fatty acids, fatty alcohols, fatty amides, fatty acid methyl esters, fatty acid glycol esters, and hydroxylated triglycerides, and mixtures thereof, which forms a fermentation product extractant having a partition coefficient for a product alcohol greater than a partition coefficient of the oil of the biomass for the product alcohol. Oil derived from a feedstock of an alcohol fermentation process can be chemically converting into the fermentation product extractant. The oil can be separated from the feedstock prior to the feedstock being fed to a fermentation vessel, and the separated oil can be chemically converted to a fermentation product extractant, which can then contacted with a fermentation product comprising a product alcohol, whereby the product alcohol is separated from the fermentation product.

Claims

1. A composition comprising:

a recombinant yeast capable of producing butanol from a feedstock;

butanol; and

at least one extractant comprising fatty acids selected from the group consisting of arachidic acid, azaleic acid, capric acid, caprylic acid, lauric acid , linoleic acid, myristic acid, oleic acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid, and mixtures thereof;

wherein the extractant is produced from the feedstock.

2. The composition of claim 1, wherein the extractant comprises one or more fatty amides of the formula R(C=O)N(R′

)(R″

), wherein

R is independently selected from the group consisting of C₃ to C₂₇ alkyl groups optionally interrupted with one or more double bonds, and

R′ and

R″

are independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen and C₁-C₆ alkyl groups optionally containing one or more hydroxyl groups.

3. The composition of claim 1, wherein the extractant comprises one or more fatty esters of the formula R—

(C═

O)—

OCHR′

CHR″

—

OH, wherein

R is independently selected from the group consisting of C₃ to C₂₇ alkyl groups optionally interrupted with one or more double bonds, and

R′ and

R″

are independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen and C₁-C₄ alkyl groups.

4. The composition of claim 1, wherein the extractant comprises one or more fatty esters of the formula R—

(C═

O)—

OR′

, wherein

R is independently selected from the group consisting of C₃ to C₂₇ alkyl groups optionally interrupted with one or more double bonds, and

R′

is an alkyl group of 8 carbons or less.

5. The composition of claim 1, wherein the extractant is a mixture of fatty amides, and wherein the mixture of fatty amides comprises linoleamide, oleamide, palmitamide, or stearamide.

6. The composition of claim 1, wherein the extractant is a mixture of fatty amides and fatty acids, and wherein the mixture of fatty amides and fatty acids comprises linoleamide, linoleic acid, oleamide, oleic acid, palmitamide, palmitic acid, stearamide, or stearic acid.

7. The composition of claim 1, wherein the fatty acids are hydroxylated fatty acids or alkoxylated fatty acids.

8. The composition of claim 1, wherein the feedstock comprises rye, wheat, corn, cane, barley, cellulosic material, lignocellulosic material, or mixtures thereof.

9. The composition of claim 1, wherein the recombinant yeast is selected from Schizosaccharomyces, Kluyveromyces, Yarrowia, Pichia, Candida, Hansenula, Zygosaccharomyces, and Saccharomyces.

10. The composition of claim 1, wherein the recombinant yeast is selected from Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Saccharomyces kluyveri, Schizosaccharomyces pombe, Saccharomyces bayanus, Saccharomyces mikitae, Saccharomyces paradoxus, Zygosaccharomyces rouxii, and Candida glabrata.

11. The composition of claim 1, wherein the recombinant yeast comprises a butanol biosynthetic pathway.

12. The composition of claim 1, wherein the recombinant yeast comprises an isobutanol biosynthetic pathway.

13. The composition of claim 9, wherein the recombinant yeast comprises a butanol biosynthetic pathway.

14. The composition of claim 9, wherein the recombinant yeast comprises an isobutanol biosynthetic pathway.