CANADIAN JOURNAL OF PURE AND APPLIED SCIENCES Member CANADIAN ASSOCIATION OF LEARNED JOURNALS

The conversion of glycerol to 1,3-propanediol (1,3-PD) by Clostridium acetobutylicum ATCC 4259 was studied in an anaerobic culture using commercial glycerol as the sole carbon source. The objective of this study was to determine the best concentration of glycerol used for the production of 1,3-propanediol and to study the cell growth kinetics of Clostridium acetobutylicum ATCC 4259 using fermentation of 10g.L glycerol and to compare the experimental results with those obtained through the traditional mathematics model. The concentrations evaluated of glycerol were 10.0; 30.0 and 60.0g.L. The amount of glycerol consumed and the 1,3-PD produced were determined using chromatography. Cell growth kinetics was measured turbidimetrically (at 660nm). The best conversion rate of glycerol to 1,3-propanediol and biomass was 0.31g.g and 0.21g.g, obtained from the fermentation of 10g.L substrate. In this research, the Monod model presented a way to express the experimental data, showing the following values of kinetic constants, 0.024h and 0.011g.L to μmax and K respectively.