Biobutanol production by Clostridium acetobutylicum using xylose recovered from birch Kraft black liquor

Acetone–butanol–ethanol (ABE) fermentation was studied using acid-hydrolyzed xylan recovered from hardwood Kraft black liquor by CO2 acidification as the only carbon source. Detoxification of hydrolyzate using activated carbon was conducted to evaluate the impact of inhibitor removal and fermentation. Xylose hydrolysis yields as high as 18.4% were demonstrated at the highest severity hydrolysis condition. Detoxification using active carbon was effective for removal of both phenolics (76–81%) and HMF (38–52%). Batch fermentation of the hydrolyzate and semi-defined P2 media resulted in a total solvent yield of 0.12–0.13 g/g and 0.34 g/g, corresponding to a butanol concentration of 1.8–2.1 g/L and 7.3 g/L respectively. This work is the first study of a process for the production of a biologically-derived biofuel from hemicelluloses solubilized during Kraft pulping and demonstrates the feasibility of utilizing xylan recovered directly from industrial Kraft pulping liquors as a feedstock for biological production of biofuels such as butanol.