FermBioPol

Initial situation & project description

Residual materials from food production are promising raw materials for the fermentative production of platform chemicals. For practical application, adjustments and optimizations are required in upstream and downstream processes as well as in fermentation technology.

The aim of the FermBioPol project is to use starch-containing residues from food production for the fermentative production of bifunctional molecules for the synthesis of biobased polymers.

The objective of the joint project FermBioPol is the production of platform chemicals based on starch-containing residual materials from the pizza and bakery industries. The project’s workflow includes the provision of substrate solutions derived from starch-containing residues, the fermentative production of the corresponding bifunctional molecules, and the processing and use of these molecules for the manufacture of bio-based polymers. The project focuses on molecules that form the basic building blocks of various bio-based polymers. This particularly includes bifunctional molecules such as lactic acid, succinic acid, and butanediols. These are to be produced from residue-based substrate solutions using efficient fermentative processes that achieve high product concentrations. The development of these efficient fermentation processes will span from laboratory scale to technical scale. The resulting crude extracts will be processed in a downstream procedure to achieve maximum product concentration with the highest possible purity, enabling their use in the production of bio based polymers. Within the consortium, PFI concentrates primarily on the development and optimization of fermentation technology. Project partner ASA Spezialenzyme GmbH is responsible for downstream processing and upscale of the fermentation processes. Rampf Advanced Polymers uses the purified bifunctional molecules for the chemical synthesis of crosslinked polyols and demonstrates their practical application.

The project with the funding code FKZ 03WIR4509A is financially supported by the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) as part of the ‘WIR! Change through Innovation in the Region’ funding programme via the project management agency PTJ.