Patent GB-349490-A (GB)
Title: Process for the simultaneous production of butyl alcohol and acetone by fermentation
IPC: C12P7/28
Filed: 1930-02-17
Abstract: Acetone and butyl alcohol are produced by the fermentation of carbohydrates with the aid of bacteria of the species B. Amylobacter A.M. and Bredemann which have been habituated, by cultivation, to increasing amounts of acid.  By the carrying out of more than a hundred habituating fermentations two strains of the species were obtained which are designated Bacillus amylobacter W. and Bacillus amylobacter S.  The main fermentation takes place in mashes which are acidulated prior to fermentation by the addition, or fermentative production, of organic acids, especially lactic acid.  The main mash is also treated with buffering mixtures such as albuminaceous mixtures of vegetable origin, together with ammonium compounds, especially ammonium salts or urea, and if the buffer index is found to be insufficiently high, salts of lactic acid, tartaric acid, citric acid or oxalic acid are added during the fermentation.  An example giving details of temperature, concentration, and acidity is given.ALSO:Butyl alcohol and acetone are produced by the fermentation of carbohydrates with the aid of bacteria of the species B.Amylobacter A.M. and Bredemann which have been habituated, by cultivation, to increasing amounts of acid.  The bacteria are cultivated on nutrient media of increasing initial acidity, without neutralization of the acids formed during fermentation, in a series of fermentations, called habituating fermentations, with interposition between each two successive habituating fermentations, of a fermentation, called sporulation fermentation, in a neutral or alkaline medium with neutralization of the acids formed during the fermentation, the cultures being heated for a short time to destroy all vegetative forms of growth prior to being used for inoculating the medium of higher acidity.  The nutrient medium of the habituating fermentations is buffered so that despite the increase in acid the hydrogen-ion concentration does not exceed certain limits.  Mixtures of weak acids with their alkali salts are particularly suitable for buffering.  It is advantageous to use in conjunction substances which act as buffers and are of the same kind as those afterwards added as nitrogenous nutriment in the main fermentation, such as malt germs, killed or degraded yeast, urea, ammonium phosphate, or ammonium sulphate.  Organic acids such as lactic acid are preferred for acidifying the media in the habituating fermentations.  By the carrying out of more than a hundred habituating fermentations two strains of the species were obtained which are designated Bacillus amylobacter W. and Bacillus amylobacter S.  The main fermentation takes place in mashes which are acidulated prior to fermentation by the addition, or fermentative production, of organic acids, especially lactic acid. The main mash is also treated with buffering mixtures such as albuminaceous mixtures of vegetable origin, together with ammonium compounds, especially ammonium salts or urea, and if the buffer index is found to be insufficiently high salts of lactic acid, tartaric acid, citric acid or oxalic acid are added during the fermentation.  An example giving details of temperature, concentration and acidity is given.