Hemicellulose, which constitutes 20- 30 wt% of lignocellulosic dry weight, is an abundant carbon resource for ethanol production. Thermoanaerobacterium saccharolyticum, a thermophilic anaerobic bacterium, has been reported to be able to ferment hemicellulose and xylan polymers directly as well as monosaccharides (both C5 and C6).
The primary aim of this project is to enhance the inhibitor tolerance and ethanol tolerance of this strain through mutagenesis and evolutionary adaptation. Moreover, a bioreactor will be developed to improve the productivity of the process.Participants:This project is funded by the Danish National Advanced Technology Foundation as part of the platform project “development of 2nd generation bioethanol”. It is a collaboration with 9 partners: DONG Energy A/S, Topsøe Fuel Cell A/S, BioGasol ApS, Statoil A/S, Energi Industrien (Dansk Industri), KU (Faculty of Life Sciences) and RISØ DTU.
Duration: This project runs from 2008 to 2010.
Employees involved: Tinghong Chang, Klaus Breddam, Timothy John Hobley
Page updated by --- 08.10.2010