JPS5947596B2 - Equipment for producing volatile oxygenated hydrocarbons by fermentation method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain the titled hydrocarbon without danger of explosion, by carrying out the main fermentation in a fermenting chamber connected to the other fermenting chamber for the mutual circulation of a fermentation liquid, and feeding oxygen necessary for the main fermentation from the other fermenting chamber. CONSTITUTION:A raw material substrate containing a light hydrocarbon and a microorganism having the ability to oxidize the hydrocarbon is charged into fermenting chambers A and B to circulate fermentation liquid in the chambers A and B mutually via communicating pipes 5 and 6. The raw material substrate is fed from a feed pipe 1 to the fermenting chamber A, and an inert gas is fed from a feed inlet 2 to the chamber A. On the other hand, oxygen gas or a gas containing the oxygen is fed from a feed inlet 4 to the chamber B, and the resultant fermentation liquid with a high oxygen content dissolved therein is circulated through the chamber A. A volatile hydrocarbon containing the oxygen thus produced by the fermentation is taken out of an outlet 3.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an apparatus for producing oxygenated hydrocarbons by fermentation using light hydrocarbons as a substrate and using microorganisms.

Recently, propylene oxide, , (1) A method for producing oxygenated hydrocarbons such as 2-epoxypentane has been proposed (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 11297/1983).

The method for producing oxygenated hydrocarbons using the fermentation method described above has the advantage of easily producing oxygenated hydrocarbons such as propylene oxide, which has optical activity, whereas conventional chemical synthesis methods tend to require complicated reaction steps. By selecting microorganisms, we can also expect to produce oxygenated hydrocarbons from acetylenic hydrocarbons.

However, there are still few reports on attempts to industrially produce oxygenated hydrocarbons by fermentation methods.

The problem in industrial production with this fermentation method is that the fermentation must be carried out under aerobic conditions, so the oxygen or air introduced into the fermentation system mixes with light hydrocarbons as raw material substrates. There is a risk that the mixing ratio may be in the explosive range, and there is also a risk that the oxygenated hydrocarbons produced and accumulated in the fermentation system may mix with oxygen or air and become an explosive chamber.

Note that the accumulation of oxygenated hydrocarbons in the fermentation system also causes inhibition of the oxidation reaction of the raw material hydrocarbons.

That is, from the viewpoint of production equipment, there is a strong demand for measures to avoid the above-mentioned explosion and accumulation of fermentation products within the system.

One possible solution to this problem is to perform fermentation in batches, but this method requires high-pressure equipment to increase the concentration of hydrocarbons in the culture medium (fermentation liquid) when using gas or volatile raw material substrates. This is not a good idea, and also has the disadvantage that it cannot be operated continuously.

The present invention has been made in view of the current state of affairs, which has accelerated the development of the present invention, and it is possible to produce oxygenated hydrocarbons from light hydrocarbons by a fermentation method without the risk of explosion. The aim is to provide a manufacturing apparatus which can also be operated in a continuous manner.

The present invention will be explained in detail below.

The gist of the invention is to prevent light hydrocarbons as feedstock substrates from coming into direct contact with oxygen or air in the fermentation process and to prevent the accumulation of oxygenated hydrocarbons in the fermentation zone where oxygen or air is introduced. The reason is that we have devised ways to prevent this.

In the present invention, two fermentation chambers are provided, and the fermentation chambers are connected to each other so that the fermentation liquid in the chambers is mutually circulated, and one of the fermentation chambers is provided with a feedstock hydrocarbon supply provided in the lower part of the fermentation chamber. The main fermentation takes place using light hydrocarbons fed through the mouth as a substrate, and the oxygen necessary for this main fermentation is supplied from oxygen or an oxygen-containing gas (e.g. air) provided in the upper part of the other fermentation chamber.
The fermentation liquor with a high degree of oxygen solubility obtained by introducing the fermentation liquor in the chamber through the supply "-4" can be supplied to the one fermentation chamber by circulating it through the communication part. ing.

In addition, in the present invention, in the lower part of one of the fermentation chambers where the main fermentation is performed, there is a supply port for inert gas such as nitrogen, argon, carbon dioxide, methane, and ethane that does not substantially affect the fermentation according to the present invention. By introducing the inert gas into the chamber, the oxygen-containing hydrocarbons produced in the chamber are sequentially taken out of the system through the outlet provided in the double blade part of the chamber, and It is possible to prevent the accumulation of oxygenated hydrocarbons in the fermentation liquor.

In addition, the fermentation liquid after the oxygen-containing hydrocarbons have been taken out of the system is circulated to the other fermentation chamber through the communication part, and after dissolving oxygen in the same manner as in the connection, it is returned to the one fermentation chamber. It is circulated through the communication part, and the raw material hydrocarbon is supplied as described above to perform fermentation.

In the present invention, two fermentation chambers may be arranged in parallel and communicated through two pipes, or one fermentation chamber may be arranged concentrically so as to be surrounded by the other fermentation chamber through a partition. In other words, the two fermentation chambers may be communicated through the upper opening of the fermentation chamber arranged internally and the porous hole provided in the lower part thereof.

In the former communication method, as illustrated in the attached FIGS. 1 and 2, each fermentation chamber is communicated with each other through two pipes through the blade part and the lower part. As illustrated in Fig. 3, one of the fermentation chambers is opened on the negative side, and the fermentation liquid in the chamber overflows from the communication part formed between the fermentation chamber and the other fermentation chamber. The fermentation liquid in the other fermentation chamber is in communication with the other fermentation chamber so that it flows into the fermentation chamber through a hole provided in the lower part of the fermentation chamber. are in circulation with each other.

In addition, in this communication method, the supply port for oxygen or oxygen-containing gas is provided in the upper part of the fermentation chamber on the outside, so it is difficult to introduce this oxygen or oxygen-containing gas directly into the fermentation chamber inside. To prevent this, a partition plate is installed in the upper part of the fermentation chamber on the exterior.

Furthermore, in the present invention, it is possible to appropriately manage the fermentation state by providing a supply port or a take-out port for the fermentation liquid or culture auxiliary components in each fermentation chamber.

Furthermore, when carrying out the present invention, a means for adding an acid solution or an alkaline solution to adjust the pH of the fermentation liquor as needed, a means for adding an antifoaming agent to defoaming foaming observed during the fermentation period, and Means required for normal fermentation operations, such as means for measuring the temperature, pH, and dissolved oxygen concentration of the fermentation liquid, other means for killing insects, and means for sterilizing raw materials, may be provided.

The apparatus of the present invention can be used to process hydrocarbons that are gaseous at room temperature or liquid hydrocarbons that easily vaporize, such as methane and ethane.

Ethylene, acetylene, propane, propylene.

Butane, isobutane, butene-1, butene-2゜isobutyne, butadiene, pentane, isopentane, pentene-1. It can be advantageously applied to produce the corresponding oxygenated hydrocarbons using light hydrocarbons such as pentene-2,2-methylbutene as feedstock substrates.

In addition, oxygen-containing hydrocarbons are compounds in which oxygen atoms are added or substituted to the raw material hydrocarbons listed above, and generally have functional groups such as carbon, aldehyde, alcohol, oxide, and carboxylic acid. It includes gases at room temperature or those that are easily vaporized and can be taken out of the system together with the inert gas supplied to the fermentation liquid.

The fermentation liquid here refers to a medium containing light hydrocarbons as a raw material substrate, to which microorganisms capable of oxidizing the hydrocarbons and producing oxygenated hydrocarbons are added. means.

Since the apparatus of the present invention is configured as described above, the raw material hydrocarbon and oxygen do not come into direct contact and mix, and the oxygen-containing hydrocarbon produced in the fermentation chamber where the main fermentation is performed Since the device of the present invention is used, there is no risk of explosion as mentioned above, and potash fermentation proceeds without being inhibited, so oxygenated hydrocarbons can be produced safely and continuously. The structure and operation of the present invention will be specifically explained below based on the accompanying drawings which illustrate the apparatus of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, A and B are fermentation chambers, which are communicated with each other through communication pipes 5 and 6.

In the figure, 1 is a supply pipe for supplying raw material hydrocarbons to fermentation chamber A, 2 is an inert gas supply port, and 4 is a supply port for oxygen or oxygen-containing gas to fermentation chamber B.

Note that 7 in the figure indicates an exhaust gas outlet. The raw material hydrocarbon and the inert gas may be supplied to the fermentation chamber A from the same supply L].

In operation using the apparatus illustrated above, a fermentation solution (5 containing microorganisms capable of oxidizing light hydrocarbons such as light hydrocarbons as a raw material substrate) is charged into fermentation chambers A and B (the charging port is not shown). ), ventilation operation, using a pump or by providing a valve in the communication part of the compartment, the communication pipe 5
While the fermentation liquid in the compartments is circulated through the chambers 1 and 6, feedstock hydrocarbons are supplied to the fermentation chamber A and inert gas is supplied from the supply pipe 1 and the supply port 2, while the fermentation chamber B is supplied with an inert gas. This is carried out by supplying oxygen or oxygen-containing gas from the supply port 4.

With the above operation, the oxygen necessary for fermentation is supplied by the circulation of the fermentation liquid in fermentation chamber B, so direct mixing of oxygen and raw material hydrocarbons is prevented, while the oxygen-containing substances produced in the fermentation liquid are Since the hydrocarbons are selectively taken out from the upper part of the fermentation chamber A, the accumulated amount is out of the explosion range due to mixing with oxygen, so that the fermentation operation can be carried out safely.

During this operation, the activity of the fermentation liquid in the device system gradually decreases, so some new fermentation liquid may be supplied to one or both of fermentation chambers A and B, and at that time, the fermentation liquid in the system may be The activity can be adjusted by letting out some of the liquid.

The apparatus shown in FIG. 2 is the same as the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 except that an inert gas dispersion plate C is provided in the fermentation chamber A, and an agitator is provided in the fermentation chamber B. Due to the arrangement of the plate C, the inert gas supplied into the fermentation chamber A is uniformly dispersed in the fermentation liquid, and the removal of oxygenated hydrocarbons produced in the fermentation liquid to the outside of the system is facilitated.

Further, the stirrer serves to increase the dissolution of oxygen supplied into the fermentation chamber B into the fermentation liquor.

Note that the driving operation is the same as that shown in FIG.

The apparatus illustrated in FIG. 3 is a modification of the one shown in FIG. 1, in which A and B indicate fermentation chambers, and fermentation chamber A is arranged concentrically with fermentation chamber B.

E indicates the partition wall of the compartment. Further, in the figure, reference numeral 11 denotes a raw material hydrocarbon supply port 16 provided at the bottom of the fermentation chamber A, which is also an inert gas supply pipe and extends into the chamber.

Reference numeral 14 indicates an outlet for the oxygen-containing hydrocarbons located at the -L section of the fermentation chamber A, and 12 indicates a communication section formed between the partition wall E and the partition plate 17 provided at the -L blade section of the fermentation chamber B. The fermentation liquid in the fermentation chamber flows into the fermentation chamber B through the communication part 12 in an overflow manner.

Numeral 13 is a porous hole provided in the lower part of the partition wall E, through which the fermentation liquid in the fermentation chamber B flows into the fermentation chamber A.

Therefore, the fermentation liquid in the compartments is mutually circulated through the first communication portion 12 and the pores 13.

In addition, 15 in the figure is a supply port for oxygen or oxygen-containing gas provided at the upper part of fermentation chamber B, and the partition plate 17 prevents oxygen or oxygen-containing gas from being directly introduced into fermentation chamber A. .

The operation of this example device is similar to that of FIG. 1, but it is advantageous in practice because it can be arranged compactly.

During operation of each of the above-mentioned apparatuses, the oxygenated hydrocarbons taken out of the system from the outlet provided at the top of the fermentation chamber A contain inert gas, unreacted hydrocarbons, and a trace amount of oxygen; Oxygenated hydrocarbons are selectively separated and recovered by operations such as , adsorption or cooling.

On the other hand, the inert gas after the oxygen-containing hydrocarbons have been separated is preferably circulated to the fermentation chamber A after removing the hydrocarbons and oxygen contained therein.

Furthermore, when hydrocarbons are supplied to fermentation chamber A, if they are gases, it is usually preferable to dissolve or disperse them into the fermentation liquid through operations such as aeration or stirring and mixing, but if they are liquids, they are simply added. But that's fine.

If the reaction rate due to fermentation is slow, the hydrocarbons are supplied from the lower part of the fermentation chamber A, and the inert gas is supplied from the supply pipe extended to near the fermentation liquid level in the chamber A, as shown in Figure 3. It is preferable to aerate the gas only into the upper part of the fermentation liquor.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 to 3 are schematic diagrams illustrating the apparatus of the present invention. In Figures 1 and 2, A... curved fermentation chamber, B...
...Fermentation chamber, C...Dispersion plate, 1...
- Feedstock hydrocarbon supply section, 2...Inert gas supply section, 3. Intermediate oxygen hydrocarbon extraction port, 4...
...Oxygen or oxygen-containing gas supply port, 5, 6...
...Communication pipe between both fermentation chambers, 7...Exhaust gas outlet. In Figure 3, A...Fermentation chamber, B...Curved fermentation chamber, E...Partition between both fermentation chambers, 11...
・Feeding part for raw material hydrocarbons, 12...Communication part between both fermentation chambers, 13...Porous holes provided in the partition walls of both fermentation chambers, 14...Oxygenated hydrocarbons outlet, 15
...Oxygen or oxygen-containing gas supply port, 16...
... Inert gas supply port, 17 ... Partition plate, 18 ... Exhaust gas outlet.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. An apparatus for producing volatile oxygenated hydrocarbons by a fermentation method using light hydrocarbons as a substrate, comprising two fermentation chambers, each fermentation chamber containing a fermentation liquid therein. are in communication with each other so as to circulate each other, and one of the fermentation chambers is provided with means for supplying oxygen or oxygen-containing gas to the fermentation liquid in the chamber in its upper part, and the other is provided in its lower part with means for supplying oxygen or oxygen-containing gas to the fermentation liquid in the chamber. The above-mentioned apparatus is characterized in that it is equipped with means for supplying light hydrocarbons and inert gas to the fermentation liquid in the room, and means for taking out volatile oxygenated hydrocarbons produced by fermentation in an upper part thereof. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the 22 fermentation chambers are communicated with each other by two communicating tubes disposed mutually through the upper and lower portions of each chamber. 3. One of the fermentation chambers is enclosed in the other fermentation chamber through a partition wall, and the enclosed fermentation chamber communicates with the other fermentation chamber through holes provided in its upper opening and its lower part. The internal fermentation chamber has a supply port for supplying light hydrocarbons to the fermentation liquid in the chamber at the lower part thereof, and an outlet for the volatile oxygen-containing hydrocarbons produced by fermentation at the upper part thereof. , the other fermentation chamber is equipped with a supply port for supplying oxygen or oxygen-containing gas to the fermentation liquid in the chamber,
2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a partition plate disposed above the other fermentation chamber to prevent oxygen or oxygen-containing gas from being directly supplied to the one fermentation chamber.