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US4567145A Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Continuous production of ethanol by use of respiration deficient mutant yeast

Assignee: IFP Energies nouvelles
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Filing: 1982-11-15
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Granted: 1986-01-28
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Expires: 2002-11-15
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Abstract

Abstract This invention provides a process for producing ethanol from a D-sugar in a continuous aerobic environment using a flocculant respiration-deficient mutant of Saccharomyces uvarum in a single stage fermentor with a cell settling tank and cell recycle, at a productivity of more than 50 grams ethanol per liter fermentor volume per hour. The process comprises (a) innoculating a fermentation zone with a respiration-deficient mutant of Saccharomyces uvarum; (b) feeding a mixture of a D-sugar, a nitrogen source, a vitamin source and a mineral source into the fermentation zone in the presence of oxygen, and (c) fermenting the D-sugar mixture for a sufficiently long period of time to yield an ethanol product. In the process, the yeast are allowed to settle for a sufficiently long period of time and recycled to the fermentation zone to increase ethanol productivity. The preferred D-sugar that may be used in the present process to produce ethanol, is D-glucose.

Inventors

  • 👤 Marcel Faber
  • 👤 Jerome D. Bernstein
  • 👤 Matthew Grossman

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-11-05 04:44
CPC Classifications
C; C12; C12P; C12P7/00; C12P7/02; C12P7/04; C12P7/06; C12N; C12N1/00; C12N1/14; C12N1/16; C12N1/18; C12N1/185; C12R; C12R2001/00; C12R2001/645; C12R2001/85; Y; Y02; Y02E; Y02E50/00; Y02E50/10; Y10; Y10S; Y10S435/00; Y10S435/8215; Y10S435/911; Y10S435/94

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 22
Claim 1
Independent Claim 83 words
A continuous process for producing ethanol from D-sugars, comprising: (a) inoculating a fermentation zone with a respiration-deficient mutant of a flocculating strain of Saccharomyces uvarum; (b) feeding a mixture of a D-sugar, a nitrogen source, a vitamin source and a mineral source into said fermentation zone in the presence of an oxygen-containing gas; (c) fermenting said D-sugar mixture for a sufficiently long period of time to yield an ethanol product; and (d) separating said ethanol product as overflow from the mutant yeast cells.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 83 words
A continuous process for producing ethanol from D-sugars, comprising: (a) inoculating a fermentation zone with a respiration-deficient mutant of a flocculating strain of Saccharomyces uvarum; (b) feeding a mixture of a D-sugar, a nitrogen source, a vitamin source and a mineral source into said fermentation zone in the presence of an oxygen-containing gas; (c) fermenting said D-sugar mixture for a sufficiently long period of time to yield an ethanol product; and (d) separating said ethanol product as overflow from the mutant yeast cells.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 20 words
The process according to claim 1, wherein said D-sugar is selected from the group consisting of monosaccharides, disaccharides and trisaccharides.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 24 words
The process according to claim 1, wherein said D-sugar is selected from the group consisting of glucose, galactose, fructose, maltose, sucrose, melibiose and raffinose.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 11 words
The process according to claim 1, wherein said D-sugar is D-glucose.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 21 words
The process according to claim 1, wherein the feed concentration of said D-sugar ranges from about 110 to about 150 grams/liter.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 15 words
The process according to claim 1, wherein said oxygen containing gas is air or oxygen.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 16 words
The process according to claim 1, wherein said nitrogen source is ammonium salts, urea or peptone.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 22 words
The process according to claim 1, wherein the fermentation takes place at a temperature ranging from about 30° to about 35° C.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim 18 words
The process according to claim 1, wherein the rate of flow of oxygen-containing gas is about 0.4 liters/minute.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim 16 words
The process according to claim 1, wherein the pH of the fermentation zone is about 4.0.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim 29 words
The process according to claim 1, wherein the cells of said mutant are recycled back into said fermentation zone to increase the productivity of ethanol by more than five-fold.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim 20 words
The process according to claim 1, wherein the ethanol product contains from about 4.0 to about 7.0 w/v % ethanol.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim 27 words
The process according to claim 1, wherein the ethanol productivity is more than 5 grams of ethanol per liter of fermentor volume per hour without cell recycle.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim 27 words
The process according to claim 11, wherein the ethanol productivity is more than 50 grams of ethanol per liter of fermentor volume per hour, with cell recycle.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim 13 words
The process according to claim 1, wherein said D-sugar is provided by molasses.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim 15 words
A respiration deficient mutant of Saccharomyces uvarum strain ATCC 26602 for producing ethanol from D-sugar.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim 15 words
A respiration deficient mutant of Saccharomyces uvarum strain ATCC 26602 for producing ethanol from D-sugar.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim 144 words
A continuous process for producing ethanol from D-suagrs selected from the group consisting of monsaccharides, disaccharides and trisaccharides, the process comprising: (a) inoculating a fermentation zone with a respiration-deficient mutant of a flocculating strain of Saccharomyces uvarum; (b) feeding a mixture of said D-sugar, a nitrogen source, a vitamin source and a mineral source into said fermentation zone in the presence of an oxygen-containing gas; (c) fermenting said D-sugar mixture for a sufficiently long period of time to yield an ethanol product; (d) overflowing said ethanol product and yeast mutant cells from said fermentation zone into a cell settling zone and withdrawing the ethanol product as overflow from the settling zone; and (e) recycling cells of said mutant back to the fermentation zone to increase the productivity of ethanol to more than about 50 grams ethanol per liter of fermentation zone volume per hour.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim 144 words
A continuous process for producing ethanol from D-suagrs selected from the group consisting of monsaccharides, disaccharides and trisaccharides, the process comprising: (a) inoculating a fermentation zone with a respiration-deficient mutant of a flocculating strain of Saccharomyces uvarum; (b) feeding a mixture of said D-sugar, a nitrogen source, a vitamin source and a mineral source into said fermentation zone in the presence of an oxygen-containing gas; (c) fermenting said D-sugar mixture for a sufficiently long period of time to yield an ethanol product; (d) overflowing said ethanol product and yeast mutant cells from said fermentation zone into a cell settling zone and withdrawing the ethanol product as overflow from the settling zone; and (e) recycling cells of said mutant back to the fermentation zone to increase the productivity of ethanol to more than about 50 grams ethanol per liter of fermentation zone volume per hour.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim 160 words
A continuous process for producing ethanol from substantially D-glucose feed material, the process comprising: (a) inoculating a fermentation zone with a respiration-deficient mutant of a flocculating strain of Saccharomyces uvarum yeast; (b) feeding a mixture of said D-glucose, a nitrogen source, a vitamin source and a mineral source into said fermentation zone in the presence of an oxygen-containing gas, said D-glucose having a feed concentration of about 110-150 gram/liter; (c) fermenting said D-glucose mixture at about 30°-35° C. temperature for a sufficiently long period of time to yield an ethanol product; (d) overflowing said ethanol product and yeast mutant cells from said fermentation zone into a cell settling zone and withdrawing the ethanol product containing about 4.0-7.0 W% ethanol as overflow from the settling zone; and (e) recycling cells of said mutant and broth back to the fermentation zone to increase the productivity of ethanol to more than about 50 grams ethanol per liter of fermentation zone volume per hour.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim 160 words
A continuous process for producing ethanol from substantially D-glucose feed material, the process comprising: (a) inoculating a fermentation zone with a respiration-deficient mutant of a flocculating strain of Saccharomyces uvarum yeast; (b) feeding a mixture of said D-glucose, a nitrogen source, a vitamin source and a mineral source into said fermentation zone in the presence of an oxygen-containing gas, said D-glucose having a feed concentration of about 110-150 gram/liter; (c) fermenting said D-glucose mixture at about 30°-35° C. temperature for a sufficiently long period of time to yield an ethanol product; (d) overflowing said ethanol product and yeast mutant cells from said fermentation zone into a cell settling zone and withdrawing the ethanol product containing about 4.0-7.0 W% ethanol as overflow from the settling zone; and (e) recycling cells of said mutant and broth back to the fermentation zone to increase the productivity of ethanol to more than about 50 grams ethanol per liter of fermentation zone volume per hour.

References Cited (Backward Citations)

US4368268A Cited

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 1989-01-27 1989-07-29 1990-01-28 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 1993-01-27 1993-07-29 1994-01-28 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 1997-01-27 1997-07-29 1998-01-28 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

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