Brigit

New tailor-made biopolymers produced from lignocellulosic sugars waste for highlydemanding fire-resistantapplications

BRIGIT NEWSLETTER 2May 2014

What is BRIGIT project about?

BRIGIT aims to develop a cost-competitive and environmentally frien-dly process to produce biopolymers, polyhydroxy butyrate (PHB), po-lybutylene succinate (PBS), and their copolymers and blends from waste-derived lignocelullosic sugar feedstock liquor from the wood sulfite pulping process. The fermentation process to produce PHB and succinic acid for the production of PBS will be carried out “in-situ” in the spent sulfite liquor by means of a new fermentation technology without alteration of the composition of current lignosulfonates con-tained in the spent liquor.

The main innovations in BRIGIT are the use of an existing sugar-rich waste stream from the production of cellulose and the process inte-gration with the existing industrial operation. The use of non-sterile (if possible) steps due to the production and selection of efficient mi-

Fire proof biopolymer sheet

Fire proof natural fibre

Fire proof biopolymer sheet

Fire proof biodegradable core

Fire proof biopolymer sheet

Fire proof natural fibre

Fire proof biopolymer sheet

Fig 1. Scheme of multi-layer sandwich panel to be developed within BRIGIT project

croorganisms, and optimized fermentation and downstream tech-nology will permit an overall reduction in resources consumption, in greenhouse gas emissions, and a substantial reduction of operational costs.

Starting from the obtained biopolymers, BRIGIT aims to develop bio-based composites for high-tech fire-resistant applications in the trans-portation sector (trucks, buses...) The biocomposites in combination with natural fabrics will be used to produce 3D sandwich panels, as an alternative to the current sandwich panels made of thermoset re-sins reinforced with continuous glass fibres. The new panels will be recyclable, lighter, and will be obtained by a continuous compression moulding process in contrast to currently available sandwich panels.

Project PARTNERS

The project consortium is formed by the following specialized centers:

AIMPLAS: Plastics Technology Centre in Valencia, Spain.ULUND: Lund University in Lund, Sweden.UNICAN: Universidad de Cantabria in Cantabria, Spain.BIOTREND: Inovação e Engenharia em Biotecnologia, S.A. in Cantanhede, Portugal.SILICO: SILICOLIFE LDA in Guimarães, Portugal.AUA: Agricultural University of Athens, in Athens, Greece.AVECOM: Avecom N.V. in Wondelgem, Belgium.BANGOR: Bangor University in Bangor, United Kingdom.NEXTEK: Nextek Limited in London, United Kingdom.DLAB: Daren Laboratories & Scientific Consultants Ltd. in Ness-Ziona, Israel.GSOUR: Green Source, S.A. in Cantabria, Spain.ADDCOMP: Addcomp Holland BV, in Nijverdal, Netherlands.PROFORM: Pro-form Ipari és Kereskedelmi Kft, in Budapest, Hungary.XPA: X-perion Aerospace GmbH in Immenstaad, Germany.SOLARIS: Solaris Bus & Coach, S.A. in Poznan, Poland.CRF: Centro Ricerche Fiat S.C.p.A in Orbassano, Italy.

Fig 2. Overview of the partners and their role in the project

About KBBE programme 18th month meeting of BRIGIT in AUA (Greece)

The KBBE (Knowledge-Based Bio-Economy) program-me plays an important role in a global economy, where knowledge is the best way to increase productivity and com-petitiveness and improve our quality of life, while protecting our environment and social model. It is a sector estimated to be worth more than 1.5 trillion per year.

KBBE addresses the following needs:

· Growing demand for safer, healthier, higher quality food;

· Sustainable use and production of renewable bio-resources;

· Increasing risk of epizootic and zoonotic diseases and food related disorders;

· Sustainability and security of agricultural, aquaculture and fisheries production;

· Increasing demand for high quality food, taking into account animal welfare and rural and coastal contexts and response to specific dietary needs of consumers.

The BRIGIT project has been funded by the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) within the KBBE programme in the Area 2.3.4 Biorefinery and the topic KBBE.2012.3.4-02: Biotechnology for novel biopolymers.

The 18th month mee-ting of the project took place last 22nd and 23rd

January 2014 at the Agricultural University of Athens, Greece.

During the meeting, the latest scientific develo-pments achieved by the project partners were discussed. One of the main topics was the op-timization and the de-toxification of the spent sulfite liquor (SSL) to increase the available sugars and reduce potential inhibi-tor compounds in the SSL for the subsequent fermentation process. Concerning the fermentation processes, different strategies for the improvement of the fer-mentation yield for PHB accumulation and succinic acid (SA) production at the laboratory scale were reported. These strategies included metabolic modeling and engineering of bacteria strains for PHB production and SA optimization. First results of PBS polymerization at lab scale were also reported. Regarding the development of PHB/PBS blends, the compounding process was defined and the reference formulation was selected after the presentation of the characte-rization results.

The next project meeting will be held in July 2014 in Santander, Spain. The meeting will be combined with the 1st Open-Workshop of the BRIGIT project, which will be organized by UNICAN.

Fig. 3. 18th month project meeting at the Agricultural Univer-sity of Athens, Greece

The President of the European Commission visited Biotrend facilities

Cantanhede, 24 April 2014

The President of the European Commission, Mr. José Manuel Durão Barroso, visited the facilities of BRIGIT partner Biotrend, after presiding over the ceremony of the inauguration of a new building of Biocant park, the first technological park and incubator fully devoted to biotechnology.

Fig. 5 The president of the EC, Mr. José Manuel Durão Barroso, at Biotrend facilities

The website of BRIGIT project www.brigit-project.eu contains updated information about the project. In addition, the website offers visitors a Technological Wat-ching Service with updated news, articles, patents and forthcoming events regarding biopolymers.

Since the beginning of the project, more than 3,100 visitors from di-fferent countries have accessed the BRIGIT website.

BRIGIT website BRIGIT dissemination in the media

The BRIGIT project has been disseminated by the BRIGIT consortium in different media channels. The article “It’s all from sugar: bioplastics for trucks and buses” was published in the CommNet Innovation Ca-talogue (Oct-2013).

Moreover, the BRIGIT consortium has presented the project in different events, such as:• 2nd Bioeconomy Forum (Bioeconomy business-project dialogues),

1 Oct 2013 at the EU-Commission, Brussels DG Research RTDI

• EPNOE 2013 International Polysaccharide Conference, 21-24 Oc-tober 2013, Nice, France

• Tecnicelpa XXII International Forest, Pulp and Paper Conference, 2-4th October, 2013, Tomar, Portugal

• APT-13 “Advances in plastics technology”, 8-10 October 2013 (10th International Scientific-Technical Conference), Gliwice, Poland

• Industrial biotechnology – meeting the challenges, 12-13 September 2013, Lund, Sweden

• 4th Workshop Green Chemistry and Nanotechnologies in Polymer Chemistry, Department of Civil and Industrial Engineering, Uni-versity of Pisa

• COST FP1205 Meeting: Dissolution and regeneration of cellulose, Workshop on Cellulose dissolution and regeneration, 3-4 De-cember 2013, Gothenburg, Sweden

• Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering Event, 19-20 November 2013, Basel, Switzerland

www.brigit-project.eu

Fig. 4. BRIGIT project website

SSL detoxification

One of the key points in the valorization of the SSL as a source of sugars for fermen-tation processes was the de-toxification of the liquor prior to the fermentation stage.

Different compounds present in the SSL have potential in-hibitory effects over the mi-croorganisms, thus reducing cell growth and fermenta-tion yield. To improve the fermentation results strong collaboration between BRI-GIT partners were necessary to identify and optimize the most efficient detoxification process. Different detoxi-fication processes were studied; precipitation, evaporation, solvent extraction, adsorption and membrane operations.

SSL treatment via ultrafiltration is a promising pretreatment unit operation as improved succinic acid production was achieved using the permeate as fermen-tation medium. However, the cost-competitiveness of this pretreatment method should be evaluated as it is not possible to separate completely the sugars from the lignosulfonates. Further research will focus on the utilization of permeates produced via ultrafiltration and nanofiltration in succinic acid production.

BRIGIT objectives and results

The work carried out within the first year of the project was mainly focused on the following areas of the project.

Definition of case studies and requirements

Different case studies for transport and passenger applications/sec-tors were selected. The material properties and standards require-ments for the selected case studies were also defined.

Study of the sulfite pulping process

The optimization of the sugar content in the SSL was carried out by means of the digestion process simulation. The simulation results were implemented in the digestion of Eucalyptus globules at labo-ratory scale giving an improvement of available sugars in the SSL of a 35% without loss of quality in the obtained pulp.

Fig.6 Examples of proposed case studies.Left: door lower cover (CRF) - Right: side wall panel (SOLARIS)

Fig. 7 Membrane operation at pilot scale

Fig. 9 SA batch fermenter

Production of PHB

Naturally occurring strains with the ability of ac-cumulating PHB were identified and isolated from a microbial consortia from waste water treatment plant. The performance of these strains was stu-died in comparison with reference strains.

A genome scale metabolic model was developed for S. cerevisiae modified to be able to uptake xylose and to produce PHB. Further model-gui-ded modifications of the metabolic pathways are being performed for enhanced yields and produc-tivities and validated through in vivo experiments.

In addition different feed strategies are being studied to develop and optimize the fermentation process.

Production of PBS

A first step in the production of PBS is to produce succinic acid from the SSL. A wild-type succinic acid producing bacterial strain has been chosen to this end in BRIGIT. Its resistance to relevant inhibitors in SSL has been thoroughly investi-gated. Strategies for reduction of the inhibitory effect are being investigated. Strategies investi-gated are for example, detoxification of the SSL by separation of lignosulfonates or adaptation of the strain to SSL.

Fig. 8 PHB batch fermenter

During the fermentation where succinic acid is produced, one molecule of carbon dioxide is fixated for each molecule of succinic acid produced. The supply of carbon dioxide has a profound impact on the product yield, and therefore the mode of supplying carbon dio-xide has been studied.Other fermentation strategies for improving the product titers studied include changing fermentation mode from batch to fed-batch.

A genome scale metabolic model was cons-tructed for this wild-type strain and experi-mental data were generated to support and validate the model.The synthesis of PBS was carried out on la-boratory scale via enzymatic and chemical catalysis. The reaction conditions were op-timized to use the least possible amount of the catalyst. Finally, PBS with Mw of about 100kDa was obtained and characterized.

BRIGIT objectives and results

Fig. 10 Picture of the sheet extrusion process for a blend of PHB/PBS with FR additives

Fig. 11 Picture of the biocomposite panel prototype

Modification of lignosulfonates (LS) and PHB to improve flame retardancy

Lignosulfonate (LS) particles separated from the SSL were modified to improve the compatibility and reactivity with biopolymers, and to use them as flame retardant additive in biopolymer formulations. Hydroxymethylation and acetylation reactions were carried out and optimized.PHB oligomers grafted with phosphorus and nitrogen compounds were developed as potential FR additives for biocomposites. Futher-more modified LS particles were also incorporated to the FR formu-lation.

Compounding & processing

The compounding of PHB/PBS blends was successfully carried out and optimized at pilot plant scale. The blends were compatibilized giving improved mechanical and thermal properties in comparison with formulations without compatibilizers. Additionally LS particles and commercial halogen free flame retardants were incorporated into the formulation in order to improve the flame retardancy of the blend.The obtained blends were then extruded into sheets for the develo-pment of the skin layer of the biocomposite panels. The skin layers were reinforced with woven natural fibres to reinforce the panel, whereas the core material was made of natural cork. First prototypes of biocomposite panels (420x320mm) were prepared by compres-sion moulding.

Economic assessment of the project

In order to track the economic issues within this complex project a master costing system has been developed that links the individual work packages so that the impact of each unit operation can be exa-mined separately and also all of the operations can be accumulated over the whole project. This will allow the project to monitor progress towards the economic targets set within the overall project goals. This framework will allow any refinements in technology to be additionally guided by their impact on the economic objectives. A database of ma-terial and process costs is being developed and reviewed as the project has been developing.

Future work

The work in the following months of BRIGIT project will be focused on:

• The detoxification process to reduce the inhibitors in the SSL.

• The improvement and optimization of the fermentation processes to produce PHB and succinic acid.

• The scale-up of the polymerization of PBS and PBS copolymers.

• The improvement of flame retardant properties of PHB/PBS bio-composites. This will be achieved by the compatibilization of LS with PHB plus the use of non-halogen flame retardants.

• The production and characterization of biocomposite panels at la-boratory scale.

Fig. 12 SOLARIS bus and tram

CONTACTAIMPLAS · Instituto Tecnológico del PlásticoC/ Gustave Eiffel, 4 (València Parc Tecnológic) 46980 - PATERNA (Valencia) - SPAINTel. (+34) 96 136 60 40

[email protected]

www.brigit-project.eu

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration