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Syngas Fermentation: Quantification Of Assay Techniques, Reaction Kinetics, And Pressure Dependencies Of The Clostridial P11 Hydrogenase, Bradley E. Skidmore

Theses and Dissertations

Ethanol usage as a transportation fuel is rapidly increasing in the United States. Production of ethanol from cellulose feedstocks via gasification followed by syngas fermentation offers an environmentally friendly approach that mitigates many of the adverse effects associated with production from corn. In the syngas fermentation process, the hydrogenase enzyme of the fermentation bacterium, Clostridium P11 for this work, supplies electrons to the metabolic pathway, facilitating ethanol production. In this thesis, an assay for P11 hydrogenase activity was developed. It was determined that 1) less than 4 minutes of sparging with 50 sccm H2 is needed to reduce O2 levels …