Periodic Reporting for period 1 - PROMOFER (Boosting upstream and downstream processes to maximize yield of PHB production and 2,3-butanediol.)
Reporting period: 2024-06-01 to 2025-05-31
A circular bio-based economy is a key element of a European low carbon economy and is projected to increasingly contribute to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions, decreased dependence on fossil resources and drive economic growth over the next decades. It can help meet the European Green Deal’s goals, including its plan to reduce EU greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels. It also contributes to other EU initiatives, including the Circular Economy Action Plan, the Biodiversity Strategy, Zero Pollution action plan and the Farm to Fork Strategy.
EU biorefineries producing bio-based products are expected to be an important part of the circular bio-based economy. Moreover, deployment of biorefineries that utilise EU biomass will increase safe supply of raw materials, decrease emissions, and create jobs and business opportunities, especially in rural areas. Approximately 300 chemical and material driven biorefineries at commercial or demonstration scale are located in the EU.
PROMOFER project will address the valorisation of two kinds of feedstock (lignocellulosic biomass and food industry waste) through the improvement of the fermentation processes and downstream purification solving identified bottlenecks at both upstream and downstream steps and producing high-value applications. There will be produced 3 SSbD, circular bio-based products 1, 2) polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) to be used in geotextile nets applications (agriculture sector) and coated paper packaging applications (packaging sectors); 3) 2,3-Butanediol (2,3-BDO) to produce bio-based PU for the technical textile applications in the fashion industry sector. The integration of these waste streams as biorefinery feedstocks will allow reducing the volumes of landfilled waste, improving competitiveness, resource efficiency and opening new opportunities for the bioplastics production with added advantages of environmental performances and social acceptance. PROMOFER will work towards achieving an optimal cascading use of bio-based feedstock, aiming for ‘zero waste’ and ‘zero-pollution’ operations.
The main goal of the PROMOFER is to improve the efficiency in the fermentation process production of two of the most commercialized biobased compounds: Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) a flexible biodegradable and biobased polymer with higher thermal and mechanical properties compared to well-know PHB and 2,3-butanediol (BDO), a chemical compound with a high demand for a wide range of applications (printing inks, perfumes, fumigants, moistening agents and softening agents). In this case, 2,3-BDO obtained by fermentation will be used as starting material to produce biobased polyurethanes (PUs). PROMOFER will demonstrate fermentation technologies to facilitate the large-scale deployment of industrial bio-based systems (PHBV and 2,3-BDO).
The ambition of PROMOFER project is linked to (i) the use of specific biobased wastes from different industries, generated in significant amounts in Europe and showing specific overcomes to be valorised into high-added value products and (ii) to improve fermentative processes to produce bioplastics (PHBV and PU), whose yield are often inefficient to compete with chemical synthesis processes. On the one hand, agro-industrial wastes (low value starches, whey permeate, industrial wastewater) will be used to produce PHBV a biodegradable and biobased bioplastic. On the other hand, lignocellulosic biomass (rice straw, wheat straw and prune waste) will be used to produce 2,3-BDO a chain extender in thermoplastic polyurethanes. In this context, PROMOFER project will stablish different strategies for the improvement of the different bottlenecks present at industrial level in the production processes of two highly valuable compounds for the biobased market such as PHBV and 2,3-BDO.
EU biorefineries producing bio-based products are expected to be an important part of the circular bio-based economy. Moreover, deployment of biorefineries that utilise EU biomass will increase safe supply of raw materials, decrease emissions, and create jobs and business opportunities, especially in rural areas. Approximately 300 chemical and material driven biorefineries at commercial or demonstration scale are located in the EU.
PROMOFER project will address the valorisation of two kinds of feedstock (lignocellulosic biomass and food industry waste) through the improvement of the fermentation processes and downstream purification solving identified bottlenecks at both upstream and downstream steps and producing high-value applications. There will be produced 3 SSbD, circular bio-based products 1, 2) polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) to be used in geotextile nets applications (agriculture sector) and coated paper packaging applications (packaging sectors); 3) 2,3-Butanediol (2,3-BDO) to produce bio-based PU for the technical textile applications in the fashion industry sector. The integration of these waste streams as biorefinery feedstocks will allow reducing the volumes of landfilled waste, improving competitiveness, resource efficiency and opening new opportunities for the bioplastics production with added advantages of environmental performances and social acceptance. PROMOFER will work towards achieving an optimal cascading use of bio-based feedstock, aiming for ‘zero waste’ and ‘zero-pollution’ operations.
The main goal of the PROMOFER is to improve the efficiency in the fermentation process production of two of the most commercialized biobased compounds: Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) a flexible biodegradable and biobased polymer with higher thermal and mechanical properties compared to well-know PHB and 2,3-butanediol (BDO), a chemical compound with a high demand for a wide range of applications (printing inks, perfumes, fumigants, moistening agents and softening agents). In this case, 2,3-BDO obtained by fermentation will be used as starting material to produce biobased polyurethanes (PUs). PROMOFER will demonstrate fermentation technologies to facilitate the large-scale deployment of industrial bio-based systems (PHBV and 2,3-BDO).
The ambition of PROMOFER project is linked to (i) the use of specific biobased wastes from different industries, generated in significant amounts in Europe and showing specific overcomes to be valorised into high-added value products and (ii) to improve fermentative processes to produce bioplastics (PHBV and PU), whose yield are often inefficient to compete with chemical synthesis processes. On the one hand, agro-industrial wastes (low value starches, whey permeate, industrial wastewater) will be used to produce PHBV a biodegradable and biobased bioplastic. On the other hand, lignocellulosic biomass (rice straw, wheat straw and prune waste) will be used to produce 2,3-BDO a chain extender in thermoplastic polyurethanes. In this context, PROMOFER project will stablish different strategies for the improvement of the different bottlenecks present at industrial level in the production processes of two highly valuable compounds for the biobased market such as PHBV and 2,3-BDO.
During the first 12 months of the project, significant progress was made across several key objectives. Efficient and scalable pre-treatment methods for lignocellulosic biomass such as wheat straw and rice straw were developed and optimized, achieving over 83% cellulose recovery and generating fermentable sugars for fermentation optimization. Acidogenic fermentation of various agri-food wastes is being improved, already reaching 20% of the targeted VFAs. Promising microbial strains (PROM5, C. necator and B. licheniformis) were selected for the production of 2,3-BDO and PHBV. These strains will be used to obtained improved strains through adaptive laboratory evolution and CRISPR-based genetic engineering. The Obelix pilot plan has been running since beginning of the year with synthetic feed. A current target of 65 % PHA/VSS is already obtained, near of the target set of 70% PHA/VSS. A first version of the fermentation model and process flow diagrams were developed to support process design and optimization. Environmental impact assessment and knowledge dissemination activities were also initiated, including the publication of the first peer-reviewed article and outreach events. While some objectives related to later project stages (e.g. biopolymer formulation and bio-based PU production) have not yet started, all objectives remain achievable within the planned timeline.
Pilot Trials
The acidification reactor is nearly ready to start operating. The VFA production reactor started operating in the 4th week of June.
The dairy streams selected have also sulfate, and assuming the worst-case scenario when most of it is converted in H2S gas in the VFA reactor, this would lead to over 30 ppm of sulfide in the gas line. A HAZOP had to be carried out with additional implementation of H2S sensors and operations protocols to ensure safety of the pilot operators.
Operation Plan
To test and optimize the process by mimicking the composition of the feed that is expected once the full recycle loop is implemented on the larger scale. The feed IBC containers will be prepared by diluting the permeate to the expected concentration. The salts will be added manually to reach the concentration that is expected to be used in the full-scale plant.
Initial optimization test in Obelix Pilot will be started with the Whey Permeate as seen in Figure 4.
Pilot Trials
The acidification reactor is nearly ready to start operating. The VFA production reactor started operating in the 4th week of June.
The dairy streams selected have also sulfate, and assuming the worst-case scenario when most of it is converted in H2S gas in the VFA reactor, this would lead to over 30 ppm of sulfide in the gas line. A HAZOP had to be carried out with additional implementation of H2S sensors and operations protocols to ensure safety of the pilot operators.
Operation Plan
To test and optimize the process by mimicking the composition of the feed that is expected once the full recycle loop is implemented on the larger scale. The feed IBC containers will be prepared by diluting the permeate to the expected concentration. The salts will be added manually to reach the concentration that is expected to be used in the full-scale plant.
Initial optimization test in Obelix Pilot will be started with the Whey Permeate as seen in Figure 4.
The results indicate a clear potential for developing a PHA production plant based on food industry residual streams coming from industries within a 150km radius from Emmen, Netherlands. This is not only now being evaluated technically within PROMOFER, but there are spin-off activities where we are in direct discussions with the stakeholder company to evaluate building a PHBV production plant together in the short term future.
Some challenges related to high salt concentration are also being addressed by implementing high salt concentration in the pilot operation and evaluating possible process solutions for salt removal together with PDC.
On the PHBV process control approach, the new program based on evaluation of the bioreactor feeding regime and dissolved oxygen values, seems to provide additional robustness to the operation by making it predictable and stable. This is a key aspect for further upscaling of the technology and might allow developing control programs that reduce the need for specialized technologies to follow-up the operation of such plants.
Some challenges related to high salt concentration are also being addressed by implementing high salt concentration in the pilot operation and evaluating possible process solutions for salt removal together with PDC.
On the PHBV process control approach, the new program based on evaluation of the bioreactor feeding regime and dissolved oxygen values, seems to provide additional robustness to the operation by making it predictable and stable. This is a key aspect for further upscaling of the technology and might allow developing control programs that reduce the need for specialized technologies to follow-up the operation of such plants.