MARSIBB
Mining and refining of second generation biomass into industrial building blocks
A sustainable future for the world requires renewable feedstocks for industries such as polymers, cosmetics, etc. to replace the fossil based compounds currently used. CSCE-Biocon and Centre of expertise Sustainable Biomass and Chemistry have years of experience mining and refining biomass (i.e., lignocellulosic materials, and insects and microalgae, respectively) to obtain valuable, high-quality products. A strong collaboration expands this expertise to more complex second generation biomasses and produces a more expansive portfolio of bio-based compounds to be used to synthesize polymers, cosmetics, lubricants, etc.
Context
Many of the currently used materials (e.g., cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, packaging) are fossil based and contribute heavily to greenhouse gas emissions and environmental pollution (e.g., microplastics, forever chemicals). Governmental initiatives highlight the need for alternative, renewable carbon sources which can be mined and refined into building blocks for petrochemicals, cosmetics, etc. while minimizing the environmental pollution.
The two major goals of the two-year project are:
to build a close collaboration that would allow Expertisecentrum Duurzame Biomassa en Chemie and CSCE-Biocon to mine and refine complex biomasses, into bio-sourced compounds that are either drop-in replacements for currently used products or novel chemicals; and
to generate data and proof-of-principal to request additional funding to continue said collaboration.
Not all companies have the budget or interest in setting up their own pilot scale testing facilities which would make us attractive research collaborators for industrial actors to scale up lab-based experiments to pilot scale levels. The partnership will contribute to the understanding and development of refining biomaterials into bio-based feedstocks and strengthen both Thomas More and KU Leuven in several ways.
Project description
The first goal of the project is to generate monomers, prepolymers and/or polymers derived from building blocks refined from familiar feeds, e.g., insect fats and lignin oil. The second goal is to lay the foundations for a portfolio of compounds derived from more complex feedstocks containing a combination of fats, sugars, phenolics and proteins (e.g., spend brewer’s grain, press cakes, tomato leaves, etc.) for different applications (e.g., lubricants, cosmetics, pigments, etc.). The third goal is to develop a long lasting, sustainable relationship and acquire the funding to continue it.
Biomass example: spend brewer’s grain
The main goal is to mine and refine a biomass that is more complex and new to both research groups, enabled by both partner’s complementary expertise and equipment. An example would be to extract fibres, sugars, phenolics and proteins from spend brewer’s grain via depolymerization and extractions. Further refining would entail fractioning (e.g., sol-sol extraction and distillation) and functionalization (e.g. esterification or alcoholysis)
The extractions and modifications of the biobased materials have already been reported on a lab-scale and hence should be reproducible. However, lab-scale to pilot-scale rarely translates one-to-one. Hiccups like poor heat transfer, low miscibility, high viscosity, etc. can be expected, but, based on several years of experience, should be mitigated by additives, different solvents, reactor design, process parameter adjustments, etc.
The collaboration between CSCE-Biocon and Expertisecentrum Duurzame Biomassa en Chemie will profile us as experts in the extraction of biomaterials and the refining of raw biomaterials into high-quality building blocks for several chemical sectors. The need for sustainable, eco-friendly materials is high and the aim is to valorise the output by: (1) submitting project proposals to acquire additional funding, (2) transferring technologies and findings through IP licensing, IP transfers or spinoffs; and (3) providing the (petro)chemical and pharmaceutical industries with bio-sourced building blocks and feedstocks.