Ultrasonic Disintegration of Lignocellulose Raw Materials as a Pre-Treatment of a Substrate for Microbiological Production of Biobutanol

Abstract

Aim. The purpose of the study was to investigate the effect of ultrasonic disintegration on the lignocellulosic raw materials (biomass of the non-cereal part of rape) with its subsequent use as a substrate for the production of biobutanol. Methods. Butanol-producing strains and the biomass of the non-cereal part of rape Brassica napus were used in the present study. Ultrasonic disintegration of lignocellulosic raw materials was performed on the specially designed equipment. Results. The effect of ultrasonic disintegration on lignocellulosic raw materials was investigated for further application in biofuel production based on microbiological conversion. The possibility of using the obtained components after the pre-treatment of lignocellulose by ultrasonic disintegration as a substrate for the microbiological synthesis of butanol was shown. The highest accumulation of butanol (2.4 g/l) was obtained with the use of 5% dry matter content in the medium, 5 min treatment and the specific power of ultrasonic disintegration of 0.72 W/ml. Conclusions. The possibility of producer strains of the genus Clostridium to use cellulose in the fermentation process has been shown. When using ultrasonic disintegration for pretreatment of the non-cereal part of the biomass of rape, the accumulation of butanol increased by 3 folds.