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Department of Engineering, ICT and Technologies for Energy and Transport Patent Title Plant equipped with biofilm reactors for butanol production. Ref. CNR 10416 Assignee(s): CNR , University of Naples Federico II CNR Institute: IRC Main Inventor: Maria E. Russo Countries: IT Priority date: 29/04/2015 Abstract The present invention relates a biofilm reactor series used to perform Acetone-Butanol-Ethanol (ABE) fermentation in a multi-stage system where products (acetone, butanol, ethanol, acetic and butirric acid) were obtained from the anaerobic fermentation of sugars contained in the liquid stream fed to the system. According to the invention, in the biofilm reactor series large butanol concentration can be achieved so that the productivity and the sugar conversion can be enhanced alternatively. Background The present invention belongs to those systems devoted to the production of biofuels by means of the fermentation of sugars from renewable sources. Bio-butanol is efficiently produced through ABE fermentation with Clostridia bacteria. Recently, the effectiveness of biofilm reactors in ABE fermentation have been proved. Technology The system is made by N reactor in series (N>2). Each reactor is filled with fixed supports where Clostridia cells grow as attached biofilm. The pH is controlled in order to manage the occurrence of the acidogenic and solventogenic phases of ABE fermentation along the N reactors. Advantages and Applications The present invention can be industrially adopted for fermentation of any renewable feedstock containing sugars for biofuels production. The described technology can improve the efficiency of the butanol production with respect to the current technology. Development stage The invention has been developed at laboratory scale and has been tested under conditions consistent with industrial operations. Its configuration can be adopted for scale up purposes. 67