BASF targets efficiency in white biotechnology

BASF has announced details of a Horizon 2020-funded project unlocking the possibility of renewable-based products made via white biotechnology. The potential is realised by significantly decreasing production costs, increasing productivity and efficiency, lowering energy consumption, and accelerating process developments.

The Processing Diluted Aqueous Systems (PRODIAS) project is led by the German multinational chemical company, and the project consortium includes companies and research organisations in the European process industry from the areas of biotechnology, renewable resources, chemistry, process engineering and equipment supply. Partners include Cargill Haubourdin, France; University of Kaiserslautern, Germany; Imperial College London, UK; and Alfa Laval, Sweden. The project has a budget of €14m, with the Sustainable Process Industry through Resource and Energy Efficiency (SPIRE) contractual public private partnership, part funded by Horizon 2020, contributing €10m.

Using biotechnological methods, such as fermentation or biocatalysis, in most cases the renewable-based products are produced as part of complex dilute aqueous mixtures from which they have to be purified. This includes the removal of a vast amount of water, making the downstream process energy intensive as it often requires many complex consecutive separation steps and thus hampers the cost competitiveness of products from renewable resources. Furthermore, processing methods developed for chemical production are often used which are insufficiently adapted to biotechnological processes.

The PRODIAS project aims to address these challenges by developing and implementing cost effective separation and purification technologies tailored for renewable resources in white biotechnology production processes. The venture is focusing on adapting separation techniques to the need of white biotechnology products and to design novel hybrid systems combining individual advantages, for example, selectivity and energy efficiency. The bioreactions (fermentations) and biocatalysis, by which the valuable products are produced, are subject to alteration and optimisation to enable more efficient and resource-saving downstream processing.