Periodic Reporting for period 1 - NoPalm Oil (A unique fermentation platform for the production of a local, circular, and sustainable alternative to palm oil from bio-waste streams)
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2024-04-01 al 2025-03-31
The NoPalm Oil project funded by EIC-Accelerator has as main goal to demonstrate scalability of the yeast fermentation technology, developed by NoPalm Ingredients, leading to the sustainable production of oil/fat to be applied in food and cosmetic products. This proof of scalability involves the development of a robust fermentation process on the basis of a selected feedstock, demonstration of maintained performance at industrial scale and establishing customers for this alternative oil by successfully conducting application trials at relevant volumes and confirming price parity to existing oils on the market. In this first reporting period, it was decided together with our major investors to focus on just one advanced production process, namely the conversion, by fermentation, of a dairy sidestream into a semi-solid fat. A robust, reproducible, process was developed in the laboratory in which fluctuations in feedstock quality/composition was mitigated by addition of potentially limiting minerals and nutrients such as Magnesium, Zinc, Biotine and soluble Nitrogen. The process proved to be scalable in-house to 400L with no effects on oil productivity and composition and was further upscaled to 5000L at an external facility while still maintaining the required productivity to support a good business case. This upscaling of the fermentation process to 5000L and beyond, resulted for the first time in production of oil-filled biomass at such quantities that various downstream processing and extraction equipment could be compared and selected for design of a future commercial Demofactory. We also equipped the current 400L pilot-plant with equivalent equipment at the pilot-plant size, so that relevant oil samples can be produced in-house, on a routine basis, for interested customers. These activities have led to our first 100,000+L production attempt, matching our future Demofactory scale.
The technical and scientific activities performed in the first Reporting Period have focussed on three main activities; 1. The optimalisation of our most advanced fermentation process based on an, abundantly available, sidestream from the dairy industry, 2. The selection of downstream-processing technologies (concentration, drying, extraction) for cost-effective and efficient extraction of the oil from the yeast biomass, and 3. Upscaling the fermentation and downstream-processing to industrial scale while maintaining oil productivity and oil quality supporting a good business case.
1. Fermentation optimalisation. Milk quality and composition can vary from day-to-day based on the production season, the feed offered to the cows, the storage time, similarly affecting sugar, nutrient, mineral and free-nitrogen content in sidestreams from dairy processes. By carefully investigating the role of different (dairy) components on the oil productivity and quality of our fermentation process, we mitigated any variability by strategic (small) additions to our feedstock. This has resulted in a robust and scalable production process for our semi-solid fat based on our selected sidestream.
2. Development of down-stream processing (DSP). DSP processes perform differently at industrial scale compared to lab scale. Hence, it was impossible to select an optimal combination of DSP-approaches during laboratory development. Only now, with our first attempts at larger scale, we have been able to develop sufficient yeast biomass (containing oil) to test and compare performance and efficiency of various pieces of equipment for concentrating, drying and extraction of the yeast oil. A base process is now in place, providing examplary oil samples for customers and regulatory submissions.
3. Upscaling. With our first robust fermentation process based on a sidestream from the food industry developed at our own 400L facility, we moved to external facilities for demonstrating our technology at more relevant volumes. After successful runs at 5,000L and 120,000L, some process steps still need optimization, so we plan a repeat run in Q2 2025.
1. Fermentation optimalisation. Milk quality and composition can vary from day-to-day based on the production season, the feed offered to the cows, the storage time, similarly affecting sugar, nutrient, mineral and free-nitrogen content in sidestreams from dairy processes. By carefully investigating the role of different (dairy) components on the oil productivity and quality of our fermentation process, we mitigated any variability by strategic (small) additions to our feedstock. This has resulted in a robust and scalable production process for our semi-solid fat based on our selected sidestream.
2. Development of down-stream processing (DSP). DSP processes perform differently at industrial scale compared to lab scale. Hence, it was impossible to select an optimal combination of DSP-approaches during laboratory development. Only now, with our first attempts at larger scale, we have been able to develop sufficient yeast biomass (containing oil) to test and compare performance and efficiency of various pieces of equipment for concentrating, drying and extraction of the yeast oil. A base process is now in place, providing examplary oil samples for customers and regulatory submissions.
3. Upscaling. With our first robust fermentation process based on a sidestream from the food industry developed at our own 400L facility, we moved to external facilities for demonstrating our technology at more relevant volumes. After successful runs at 5,000L and 120,000L, some process steps still need optimization, so we plan a repeat run in Q2 2025.
Optimization revealed several factors and parameters that influence the total amount and the quality/composition of our oils and fats, allowing customization for clients´ specific needs. We have also observed that some combinations of downstream processing technologies are much more effective in oil extraction than others. These findings will support new patent applications, strengthening NoPalm’s IP.