Gas mixer for Preparing Syngas Mixtures – Wageningen University

TARGET OF THE PROJECT

Preparing Syngas Mixtures – Synthesis Gas

Description of the Application.

The transition towards a circular economy demands of novel industrial processes that reduce carbon emissions and ensure sustainable production of chemicals and fuels. In this context, a technology that has received increased attention within recent years is syngas fermentation.

Synthesis gas, or syngas, is a mixture of mainly CO, CO2, and H2 that can be obtained from the gasification of virtually any carbonaceous material, including waste resources and lignocellulosic biomass. Syngas also constitutes an important industrial off-gas, contributing significantly to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions into the atmosphere. Acetogenic bacteria can use this CO-rich gas as substrate, producing organic compounds such as acetic acid and ethanol. In this project, we aim at expanding the array of products to longer-chain fatty acids and alcohols that can serve as platform chemicals.

Teamwork is the key to achieving this: synthetic microbial consortia can be built that combine the necessary metabolic pathways to yield the desired products.

This project builds on previous work carried out at the Laboratory of Microbiology that demonstrated the production of butyric acid (C4), caproic acid (C6), and their respective alcohols from syngas by a co-culture of Clostridium species. Here, we intend to produce the odd-numbered fatty acids valerate (C5), heptanoate (C7) – and perhaps even longer-chain fatty acids- and their respective alcohols, which are rare in nature but serve as important building blocks in the chemical industry. Following a modular approach, a propionic acid-producing bacterium will be incorporated into the existing co-culture in order to promote the production of odd-chain products.

READ THE SCIENTIFIC PAPER:
Syngas to platform chemicals: a matter of microbial teamwork

Benefits and Savings.

Buying cylinders of natural gas blends is expensive and limits the availability of mixtures that may be required. Gas cylinders are also large and often require special storage arrangements, as well as taking up valuable space.

By using the MCQ gas blender it is possible to create a gas mixture at any time, and to a certain degree, different concentrations of the blended natural gas mixture. The ability to blend natural gas simulations on-demand is an incredibly powerful tool in the development of innovative gas detection equipment. And provides a level of flexibility that gas cylinders cannot provide.

Recent News