Mutant Yeast Conversion of Alkane Streams to Dicarboxylic Acids
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for converting alkane-rich petroleum refinery streams into value-added products like mono/dicarboxylic acids and biosurfactants face challenges due to the use of expensive commercial-grade straight chain alkanes and the presence of impurities, particularly sulfur, which hampers biosynthesis and selectivity.
Innovation Solution
A bio-assisted process using a mutant yeast strain, such as Candida vini, Candida entamophila, or Candida tropicalis, in combination with a heterogeneous nano-catalyst like iron-doped cerium oxide, which tolerates sulfur and converts alkane-rich refinery streams into mono/dicarboxylic acids and biosurfactants, with controlled oxygen sparging and stabilizer addition to enhance selectivity and product formation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If chemical methods (cracking, isomerization, reforming) are used to convert alkane streams, then valuable chemicals and additives can be formed, but the processes are highly energy intensive and result in unwanted and hazardous byproducts
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical/chemical conversion processes with a biological system. Mutant yeast strains are used to biologically convert alkane-rich refinery streams into value-added products like mono/dicarboxylic acids and fatty acids. This biochemical pathway substitutes high-energy chemical reactions with enzymatic processes that occur under milder conditions, dramatically reducing energy consumption while avoiding hazardous byproducts
Solution Approach 2:
The patent modifies the biological parameters of the yeast strain through mutagenesis to enhance its ability to process alkanes. By changing the genetic parameters of the microorganism, the system achieves efficient conversion of alkanes to valuable chemicals under ambient conditions, eliminating the need for high-energy chemical processes
2Quantity of substance
If commercial-grade straight chain alkanes are used as feedstock, then conversion to value-added products can occur, but the feedstock becomes expensive and impurities like sulfur hamper biosynthesis and selectivity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a disposable mutant yeast strain that can process low-cost, impure alkane-rich refinery streams. The biological system is designed to tolerate and process real-world feedstock with sulfur impurities without requiring expensive purification of the feedstock, thereby maintaining both cost-effectiveness and product selectivity
Solution Approach 2:
The patent converts the harmful effect of sulfur impurities in refinery streams into a beneficial outcome. The mutant yeast strain is specifically engineered to tolerate sulfur presence and still produce high-selectivity conversions to mono/dicarboxylic acids. The system transforms what would normally be a process inhibitor into a non-issue, allowing direct use of crude refinery streams
3Temperature
If biological processes are used to produce dicarboxylic acids from long hydrocarbon chains, then the conversion can occur under milder conditions, but the presence of sulfur impurities hampers biosynthesis and selectivity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the biological parameters of the yeast strain through mutagenesis to create a variant that is both tolerant of sulfur impurities and capable of high-selectivity conversion under mild temperatures. The genetic modification enables the organism to maintain enzymatic activity and product selectivity even in the presence of sulfur, resolving the contradiction between mild conditions and impurity tolerance
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The process achieves selective conversion of alkane-rich refinery streams into high-value products with high selectivity and purity, capable of handling sulfur-containing feedstocks, and can produce monocarboxylic acids, dicarboxylic acids, and biosurfactants with efficiencies exceeding 90%, while desulfurizing the feedstock.
Implementation Method 1
The mutant yeast strain, such as Candida vini, Candida entamophila, or Candida tropicalis, in combination with a heterogeneous nano-catalyst like iron-doped cerium oxide, which tolerates sulfur and converts alkane-rich refinery streams into mono/dicarboxylic acids and biosurfactants
Implementation Method 2
adding the centrifuged wet microbial cells of step (ii) to a heterogenous nanocatalyst in a culture media
Implementation Method 3
sparging oxygen gas to the reactor to obtain a product
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2(a)~2(c)
AI summary
The present invention relates to a process for valorization of low-cost alkane rich feedstock. More specifically, the present invention relates to the selective conversion of alkane rich kerosene to value-added products like mono/dicarboxylic acid, fatty acids and biosurfactants using mutant yeast strain and a heterogenous nano-catalyst. The present invention also provides a mutant yeast strain for selective conversion of alkane rich refinery stream from a substrate containing hydrocarbons. The mutant yeast strain of the present invention is able to consume the sulfur content in the feed and results in the desulfurization of the alkane rich feedstock.