Valorizing a hydrothermal liquefaction aqueous phase through co-production of chemicals and lipids using the oleaginous yeast Yarrowia lipolytica

Lauren T Cordova; Beena C Lad; Sabah A Ali; Andrew J Schmidt; Justin M Billing; Kyle Pomraning; Beth Hofstad; Marie S Swita; James R Collett; Hal S Alper

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2020.123639

Valorizing a hydrothermal liquefaction aqueous phase through co-production of chemicals and lipids using the oleaginous yeast Yarrowia lipolytica

Bioresour Technol. 2020 Oct:313:123639. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2020.123639. Epub 2020 Jun 6.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, 200 E Dean Keeton St. Stop C0400, Austin, TX 78712, United States.
² Department of Molecular Biosciences, The University of Texas at Austin, 100 East 24(th) Street Stop A5000, Austin, TX 78712, United States.
³ Chemical and Biological Process Group, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, United States.
⁴ McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, 200 E Dean Keeton St. Stop C0400, Austin, TX 78712, United States; Institute for Cellular and Molecular Biology, The University of Texas at Austin, 2500 Speedway Avenue, Austin, TX 78712, United States. Electronic address: halper@che.utexas.edu.

PMID: 32534224
DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2020.123639

Abstract

Hydrothermal liquefaction is a promising technology to upgrade wet organic waste into a biocrude oil for diesel or jet fuel; however, this process generates an acid-rich aqueous phase which poses disposal issues. This hydrothermal liquefaction aqueous phase (HTL-AP) contains organic acids, phenol, and other toxins. This work demonstrates that Y. lipolytica as a unique host to valorize HTL-AP into a variety of co-products. Specifically, strains of Y. lipolytica can tolerate HTL-AP at 10% in defined media and 25% in rich media. The addition of HTL-AP enhances production of the polymer precursor itaconic acid by 3-fold and the polyketide triacetic acid lactone at least 2-fold. Additional co-products (lipids and citric acid) were produced in these fermentations. Finally, bioreactor cultivation enabled 21.6 g/L triacetic acid lactone from 20% HTL-AP in mixed sugar hydrolysate. These results demonstrate the first use of Y. lipolytica in HTL-AP valorization toward production of a portfolio of value-added compounds.

Keywords: Co-production; Hydrothermal Liquefaction Aqueous Phase; Yarrowia lipolytica.

MeSH terms

Bioreactors
Citric Acid
Fermentation
Lipids
Yarrowia*

Substances

Lipids
Citric Acid