Conversion of polyhydroxyalkanoates to methyl crotonate using whole cells.

Isolated polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) can be used to produce biobased bulk chemicals. However, isolation is complex and costly. To circumvent this, whole cells containing PHA may be used. Here, PHA containing 3-hydroxybutyrate and small amounts of 3-hydroxyvalerate was produced from wastewater and used in the conversion of the 3-hydroxybutyrate monomer to methyl crotonate. Due to the increased complexity of whole cell reaction mixtures compared to pure PHA, the effect of 3-hydroxyvalerate content, magnesium salts and water content was studied in order to evaluate the need for downstream processing. A water content up to 20% and the presence of 3-hydroxyvalerate have no influence on the conversion of the 3-hydroxybutyrate to methyl crotonate. The presence of Mg(2+)-ions resulted either in an increased yield or in byproduct formation depending on the counter ion. Overall, it is possible to bypass a major part of the downstream processing of PHA for the production of biobased chemicals.

A limited LCA of bio-adipic acid: manufacturing the nylon-6,6 precursor adipic acid using the benzoic acid degradation pathway from different feedstocks.

A limited life cycle assessment (LCA) was performed on a combined biological and chemical process for the production of adipic acid, which was compared to the traditional petrochemical process. The LCA comprises the biological conversion of the aromatic feedstocks benzoic acid, impure aromatics, toluene, or phenol from lignin to cis, cis-muconic acid, which is subsequently converted to adipic acid through hydrogenation. Apart from the impact of usage of petrochemical and biomass-based feedstocks, the environmental impact of the final concentration of cis, cis-muconic acid in the fermentation broth was studied using 1.85% and 4.26% cis, cis-muconic acid. The LCA focused on the cumulative energy demand (CED), cumulative exergy demand (CExD), and the CO(2) equivalent (CO(2) eq) emission, with CO(2) and N(2) O measured separately. The highest calculated reduction potential of CED and CExD were achieved using phenol, which reduced the CED by 29% and 57% with 1.85% and 4.26% cis, cis-muconic acid, respectively. A decrease in the CO(2) eq emission was especially achieved when the N(2) O emission in the combined biological and chemical process was restricted. At 4.26% cis, cis-muconic acid, the different carbon backbone feedstocks contributed to an optimized reduction of CO(2) eq emissions ranging from 14.0 to 17.4 ton CO(2) eq/ton adipic acid. The bulk of the bioprocessing energy intensity is attributed to the hydrogenation reactor, which has a high environmental impact and a direct relationship with the product concentration in the broth.

Effects of thermo-chemical pre-treatment on anaerobic biodegradability and hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass.

The effects of different thermo-chemical pre-treatment methods were determined on the biodegradability and hydrolysis rate of lignocellulosic biomass. Three plant species, hay, straw and bracken were thermo-chemically pre-treated with calcium hydroxide, ammonium carbonate and maleic acid. After pre-treatment, the plant material was anaerobically digested in batch bottles under mesophilic conditions for 40 days. From the pre-treatment and subsequent anaerobic digestion experiments, it was concluded that when the lignin content of the plant material is high, thermo-chemical pre-treatments have a positive effect on the biodegradability of the substrate. Calcium hydroxide pre-treatment improves the biodegradability of lignocellulosic biomass, especially for high lignin content substrates, like bracken. Maleic acid generates the highest percentage of dissolved COD during pre-treatment. Ammonium pre-treatment only showed a clear effect on biodegradability for straw.