PHA Production via Regenerative Biomass Recycling
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Solution Overview
Problem
The high cost of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) production limits their industrial production and commercial adoption, despite their environmental advantages, due to the energy and chemical intensive nature of carbon-containing gas-based fermentation processes.
Innovation Solution
A novel process that utilizes a microorganism culture capable of metabolizing carbon within both carbon-containing gases and PHA-reduced biomass, involving steps such as culturing, PHA extraction, purification, and recycling of PHA-reduced biomass to enhance carbon, energy, and chemical efficiencies.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If carbon-containing gas-based fermentation processes are used for PHA production, then carbon input cost is reduced, but energy and chemical efficiency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent recovers and recycles PHA-reduced biomass back into the fermentation process as a carbon source, transforming what would be waste material into a valuable resource. This circular approach improves energy and chemical efficiency while maintaining low carbon input costs by utilizing readily available carbon from biomass rather than requiring additional carbon-containing gases.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses its own output (PHA-reduced biomass) as an input resource for continued PHA production. The biomass that remains after PHA extraction is fed back into the fermenter to support further microbial growth and PHA synthesis, creating a self-sustaining process that reduces external carbon, energy, and chemical requirements.
2Quantity of substance
If carbon-containing gas-based fermentation processes are used for PHA production, then carbon input cost is reduced, but chemical efficiency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
PHA-reduced biomass is recovered and recycled back into the fermentation process, preventing chemical waste and improving overall chemical efficiency. This approach maximizes the utilization of carbon resources already present in the system rather than requiring additional chemical inputs.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the chemical composition of the fermentation medium by adding PHA-reduced biomass, which provides additional carbon sources and nutrients. This parameter change enhances chemical efficiency by creating a more nutrient-rich environment that supports higher cell densities and PHA production without requiring proportional increases in external chemical inputs.
3Productivity
If high cell density and high PHA inclusion concentration are achieved, then productivity is improved, but process complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements continuous PHA production through the recycling of PHA-reduced biomass back into the fermenter. This continuous process eliminates the need for complete batch restarts, maintaining high cell densities and PHA inclusion concentrations over extended periods, thereby improving productivity without requiring complex batch-to-batch transition mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of discarding PHA-reduced biomass after extraction, the system recycles it back into the fermentation process. This simple yet effective approach maintains high productivity by continuously providing carbon sources and nutrients, avoiding the need for complex feedstock preparation and delivery systems.
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
This process achieves significantly improved energy, carbon, and chemical efficiencies, enabling the production of PHA from carbon-containing gases at costs competitive with food crop-based PHAs and fossil fuel-based thermoplastics.
Implementation Method 1
The culture of microorganisms are caused to convert the carbon within a carbon-containing gas into a second gas, and subsequently are caused to utilize the second gas to produce polyhydroxyalkanoates
Implementation Method 2
providing a culture of microorganisms capable of converting the carbon within a carbon-containing gas into biomass and polyhydroxyalkanoates
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments of the invention relate generally to processes for the production and processing of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) from carbon sources. In several embodiments, PHAs are produced at high efficiencies from carbon-containing gases through the utilization of a regenerative polymerization system.