Utilisation of glycerol to platform chemicals within the biorefinery concept: A case for succinate production

In this study, a biorefinery concept is introduced for the production of platform chemicals by utilising the by-products of the biodiesel industry. An unstructured kinetic model for the bacterial growth of Actinobacillus succinogenes, which is our chosen biocatalyst, is proposed. The model describes cell growth and considers both substrate and product inhibition. The main product chosen here is succinic acid and by-products like acetate, formate and ethanol have insignificant low concentrations. Experiments on different initial glycerol concentrations at the same environmental conditions are carried out and simulation studies are conducted using the proposed model. Parametric values are estimated based on experimental results. Prior to that, the main environmental factors that affect the bioprocess are examined and beneficial conditions in terms of yield, final succinic acid concentration and productivity are assessed by a factorial experimental procedure. Copyright © 2009, AIDIC Servizi S.r.l.