earticle

영어

Glycerol is generated in large amounts during the production of biodiesel. The tremendous growth of the biodiesel industry created a glycerol surplus that has resulted in a dramatic 10-fold decrease in crude glycerol prices over several years, providing a great advantage to use glycerol for the various chemical productions from economical and environmental standpoints. In this study, the production of 1,3-propanediol (1,3-PD) was investigated with Klebsiella pneumonia DSM 2026 and DSM 4799 using crude glycerol solution obtained from biodiesel production process. To test if there is inhibitory effect of crude glycerol on 1,3-PD production, crude glycerol was used without purification. The strains were grown in batch cultures to optimize the cultivation conditions for high production of 1,3-PD. Especially, the fermentation process was initiated under the aerobic conditions, followed by anaerobic batch conditions, which could enhance the productivity of 1,3-PD. The yield of 1,3-PD production from crude glycerol containing high concentration of glycerol (90% w/w) was similar to those obtained with commercially available glycerol (pure glycerol). However, 1,3-PD production from another biodiesel waste in which glycerol concentration was 70% (w/w) was lower than those at the same concentration of pure glycerol, which possibly resulted from impurities in biodiesel waste. Since product inhibition effect has been known in biological production of 1,3-PD, the effect of 1,3-PD concentration on the growth of K. pneumonia and glycerol fermentation will be investigated.