10107823Alginic-acid to Safety (A2S) - superior alginic-acid based adsorbents for safety end usesClosedLaunchpadInnovate UKThis project, Alginic-acid to Safety ("A2S"), centres on the transformation of a key product from seaweed processing, Alginic Acid ("AA"), into novel materials ("Starbon") with superior performance in the field of toxic gas filtration. Scotland has a long history with seaweed processing dating back to the 18th century. Although primary Alginate production in Scotland ceased early in the 21st century, a local company Marine Biopolymers Ltd (MBL) is now using state of the art seaweed processing technology ("bio-refining"), to once more produce materials in Scotland. These products from seaweed processing have a wide variety of end-use applications, especially in nutrition and health care. MBL's product portfolio includes Alginic acid (AA). Partnering MBL in the project is Starbons Ltd (SBL), a company that holds patents for the manufacture of cutting-edge adsorbents (Starbon) which are manufactured from AA. Additional project partners are the University of York (specifically, the Green Chemistry Centre of Excellence), the Biorenewables Development Centre (an RTO associated with the University of York) and ICMEA-UK Ltd, an engineering company which specialises in scale up of processes from pilot to commercial. The project's aim is to achieve product scale-up from already demonstrated pilot scale processes currently operated separately at MBL and at SBL. The longer-term vision is to invest in an integrated full scale production facility in Scotland, co-locating MBL and SBL manufacturing, making use of indigenous and sustainably available seaweed, and also the region's abundantly available renewable energy, in an optimised, low emissions process. There will not only be a positive environmental impact but also the creation of highly skilled employment opportunities.