Is pyrolysis bio-oil prone to microbial conversion into added-value products?. (January 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Basaglia, Marina; Favaro, Lorenzo; Torri, Cristian; Casella, Sergio
• Is Part Of: Renewable energy. Volume 163(2021)
• Page Start: 783
• Page End: 791
• Publication Date: 2021-01
• Subjects: Microbial valorization -- Pyrolysis -- Wood -- Bioethanol production -- Hybrid thermochemical-biological treatment -- Industrial yeast; Renewable energy sources -- Periodicals; Power resources -- Periodicals; Énergies renouvelables -- Périodiques; Ressources énergétiques -- Périodiques; 333.794
• DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2020.08.010
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0960-1481

Abstract

Abstract: In view of the potential application of pyrolysis-based biotechnologies, it is crucial to look for novel microorganisms able to convert pyrolysis-derived products, in particular bio-oil water-soluble constituent, into valuable compounds. For the first time, this paper proposed a survey on a collection of bacterial, yeast, and fungal strains with well-known industrial properties as well as new bacterial isolates in order to select microbes able to both tolerate bio-oil inhibitors and convert bio-oil into valuable products. This survey found that bio-oil aqueous phase (BOAP) obtained from intermediate pyrolysis could be metabolized as it is by fungal strains whereas several dilutions are needed to do not hamper cell viability of many tested yeast and bacterial isolates. To process BOAP into valuable products, the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae L13, selected as the most industrially relevant tested strain, was adopted to convert bio-oil aqueous fraction hydrolysate into ethanol without any detoxification step. The fermenting performances were much greater than those of the benchmark yeast strain and S. cerevisiae L13 proved to be a strong candidate for bioethanol production from BOAP hydrolysates. This study demonstrated that the search for microorganisms is a promising approach to the future development of pyrolysis oil-based biorefinery platforms. Graphical abstract: Image 1 Highlights: Bio-oil was obtained from intermediate pyrolysis of wood. 204 microbes with industrial traits was tested for bio-oil tolerance. 17 newly isolated bacteria able to use bio-oil as carbon source were obtained. The most tolerant yeast produced high ethanol yields without detoxification step.