Blending industrial blast furnace gas with H2 enables Acetobacterium woodii to efficiently co-utilize CO, CO2 and H2

Abstract

In this study, the impact of gas composition (i.e. CO, CO2 and H2 partial pressures) on CO2 utilization, growth, and acetate production was investigated in batch and continuous cultures of A. woodii. Based on an industrial blast furnace gas, H2 blending was used to study the impact of H2 availability on CO2 fixation alone and together with CO using idealized gas streams. With H2 available as an additional energy source, net CO2 fixation and CO, CO2 and H2 co-utilization was achieved in gas-limited fermentations. Using industrial blast furnace gas, up to 15.1 g l-1 acetate were produced in continuous cultures. Flux balance analysis showed that intracellular fluxes and total ATP production were dependent on the availability of H2 and CO. Overall, H2 blending was shown to be a suitable control strategy for gas fermentations and demonstrated that A. woodii is an interesting host for CO2 fixation from industrial gas streams.