earticle

영어

The advent of biobutanol production leads to the search for cheap and efficient raw materials which do not necessitate the utilization of food crops and other lignocellulosic biomass. Macroalgae are promising options because they can be propagated easily along the seaside of the Korean peninsula thus eliminating the need for land and nutrient resources. In this study, four species of brown algae (Undaria pinnatifida, Laminaria japonica, Ecklonia stolonifera, Hizikia fusiforme, and Sargassum fulvellum) and two species of red algae (Porphyra tenera and Gelidium amansii) were investigated for the production of butanol by Clostridium saccharoperbutylacetonicum N1-4. To hydrolyze the polymeric materials of the algal biomass, dilute acid hydrolysis was carried out using 0.15 M H2SO4 followed by thermal pretreatment at 121°C for 1 hr. Using 100 g/L of hydrolyzed brown alga, the highest butanol production (5.51 g/L) was observed for L. japonica. Other brown algae and red algae did not exceed the butanol production by L. japonica, although, red algae were thought to contain easily digestible polymeric materials. Furthermore, a post-treatment of the acid-hydrolyzed biomass was carried out. Using the activated carbon and overliming methods, the final butanol concentration had increased by 24.14% and 12.16%, respectively. This showed that inhibiting substances might be present in the hydrolytic solution of the macroalgae.