PRODIAS – Processing Diluted Aqueous Systems – fostering European process industries’ competitiveness in the area of renewable based processes.
Introducing renewable raw materials into existing value chains and the development of subsequently needed cost- and energy-efficient water removal, product-recovery and purification techniques are major challenges for the process industry today. In order to unlock the potential of the renewable-based product market for the European process industry, a re-thinking of downstream processing is indispensable. This includes new / optimized separation technologies as well as suitable methodologies for fast-track development of tailored downstream processes.
Industrial biotechnology is an enabling technology to produce both, complex performance products such as Enzymes and chemical value chain intermediates based on renewable resources. A consortium of European process industry companies in the areas of biotechnology, renewable resources, chemistry, process engineering and equipment supply as well as research organizations launched the project PRODIAS (PROcessing Diluted Aqueous Systems) to address the above-mentioned challenges.
Focus of PRODIAS was to adapt separation technologies to the need of white / industrial biotechnology processes and products and to design novel systems combining individual advantages, for example, selectivity and energy efficiency. Moreover, fermentation and biocatalysis by which the valuable products are produced were subject to optimization within the project to enable more efficient and resource-saving downstream processing.
Under the consortial leadership of BASF the partners Cargill, University of Kaiserslautern, Imperial College London, Alfa Laval, GEA Messo PT, Xendo, UPM and Enviplan collaborated to develop the needed technologies and to thus support downstream processing in industrial biotechnology.
