SUSFUFLEX: New, Innovative sustainable transportation fuels for mobile applications: from biocomponents to flexible liquid fuels

The aim of the project is to evaluate old and novel procedures for microbiological production of biobutanol, higher alcohols and oxygenates as fuel substitutes in order to find the most efficient and feasible processes.

The work is focusing on research and development of the biobutanol production. It is an anaerobic two-stage fermentation process in which acetic and butyric acids, carbon dioxide and hydrogen are first produced in the acidogenic phase. Then the culture undergoes metabolic shift to solventogenic phase and acids are recovered from the cell mass and from other suspended solids and by-products. The product inhibition hinders the yield of butanol and acids, making integrated product separation process highly favorable.

The project is funded by Academy of Finland (Sustainable energy research programme) and is in cooperation with Department of Chemistry of Oulu University (coordinator); Microelectronics and Material Physics Laboratories of Oulu University and Laboratory of Industrial Chemistry and Reaction Engineering of Åbo Akademi University

Researcher: M.Sc.(Eng.) Johanna Päkkilä