Optimisation of degraded Biodegradable Municipal Waste (BMW) products by enzymatic treatment
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Leeds
Department Name: Chemical and Process Engineering
Abstract
Within India, only 25% of the Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) generated is processed and taken to landfill; and the landfills that are there are overfilling.
Therefore, a process to degrade the organic fraction of the MSW by enzymatic treatment to produce sugars is under development. This organic fraction (BMW) then degrades to sugars which can be sold for a small commercial value. However, the different compositions of the MSW may affect the yields of the products - so an optimisation process to find the 'best' sugar yield through the best source of fibre present would be an important step. These sugars could then potentially then be converted into diverse high-value products for different industries.
- Levulinic acid
The acid hydrolysis of sugars can form Levulinic acid - a substance that can synthesise several organic chemicals. The esterification of levulinic acid can form a diesel miscible fuel (DMB) that may decrease the CO2 generated from fossil fuel consumption (Fernandes et. al, 2012). Other uses include as a textile, resin, plasticiser and antifreeze.
- Organic acids
Alternatively, the addition of microbes can ferment the sugars to produce organic acids (such as lactic acid) which have a greater commercial value. It is difficult to do this process in a batch reactor - as the organic acids produce an acidic environment which kill the microbes; stopping the process.
Current research has been looking at genetically engineering the microbes to resist the acidic environment - however this would drive up operational costs. Alternatively, converting this to a continuous process without changing the microbes could solve a lot of issues - such as greater conversion, stopping the build-up of organic acids and is a necessary step for scale-up of the process.
- Transport fuels
Transport fuels could be produced in several ways from the BMW:
1) The organic acids discussed above can undergo (bio)hydrogenation to convert them into alcohols and so to biofuels.
2) The sugars can be fermented into ethanol and biodiesels
Each stage of these developed processes would require certain steps:
- Model-based Design of Experiments
- Process perturbation, to see how the process is affected by potential issues or changes
- Conversion from batch to continuous
- Modelling of process
- Integration of process control to measure and analysis the process
Therefore, a process to degrade the organic fraction of the MSW by enzymatic treatment to produce sugars is under development. This organic fraction (BMW) then degrades to sugars which can be sold for a small commercial value. However, the different compositions of the MSW may affect the yields of the products - so an optimisation process to find the 'best' sugar yield through the best source of fibre present would be an important step. These sugars could then potentially then be converted into diverse high-value products for different industries.
- Levulinic acid
The acid hydrolysis of sugars can form Levulinic acid - a substance that can synthesise several organic chemicals. The esterification of levulinic acid can form a diesel miscible fuel (DMB) that may decrease the CO2 generated from fossil fuel consumption (Fernandes et. al, 2012). Other uses include as a textile, resin, plasticiser and antifreeze.
- Organic acids
Alternatively, the addition of microbes can ferment the sugars to produce organic acids (such as lactic acid) which have a greater commercial value. It is difficult to do this process in a batch reactor - as the organic acids produce an acidic environment which kill the microbes; stopping the process.
Current research has been looking at genetically engineering the microbes to resist the acidic environment - however this would drive up operational costs. Alternatively, converting this to a continuous process without changing the microbes could solve a lot of issues - such as greater conversion, stopping the build-up of organic acids and is a necessary step for scale-up of the process.
- Transport fuels
Transport fuels could be produced in several ways from the BMW:
1) The organic acids discussed above can undergo (bio)hydrogenation to convert them into alcohols and so to biofuels.
2) The sugars can be fermented into ethanol and biodiesels
Each stage of these developed processes would require certain steps:
- Model-based Design of Experiments
- Process perturbation, to see how the process is affected by potential issues or changes
- Conversion from batch to continuous
- Modelling of process
- Integration of process control to measure and analysis the process
Planned Impact
Impacts and benefits to the Non-Academic Users of the Centre include:
- Access to high quality, interdisciplinary R&D support to increase competitiveness
- Cutting edge research with high value for money;
- Access to knowledge and expertise;
- Recruitment from a pool of talented early-career students for future employment, and input into shaping the skill development of those students (engineers and scientists with training in the wider context of sustainability, economics, policy and commercial awareness).
- Technology transfer research;
- Access to a breadth or research facilities and expertise and interdisciplinary teams;
- Consultancy,
- Networking and participating in focussed forums with other technolgogy users and policy makers - sharing experiences;
- Training or secondments of their staff for enhanced knowledge transfer;
- Partnerships in innovation in the sector;
- Access to assessments of technolgoies and innovation with the best chance of a positive impact to society;
Impacts and benefits to Academic users in the fields of [1] Feedstocks, pre-processing and safety; [2] Conversion; [3] Utilisation, emissions and impact; [4] Sustainability and Whole systems, include:
- Access to and collaboration in world-leading, transformative research, which advances knowledge concerning innovative bioenergy technologies, sustainability and social acceptability, and policy mechanisms for acheiving these;
- Development of new collaborations and leaverage of further funding to support their activities;
- Access to knowledge and expertise and networking and dissemination events;
- Research exchange opportunities for mutual benefit and cross-fertilisation of ideas and innovation
- Access to high quality, interdisciplinary R&D support to increase competitiveness
- Cutting edge research with high value for money;
- Access to knowledge and expertise;
- Recruitment from a pool of talented early-career students for future employment, and input into shaping the skill development of those students (engineers and scientists with training in the wider context of sustainability, economics, policy and commercial awareness).
- Technology transfer research;
- Access to a breadth or research facilities and expertise and interdisciplinary teams;
- Consultancy,
- Networking and participating in focussed forums with other technolgogy users and policy makers - sharing experiences;
- Training or secondments of their staff for enhanced knowledge transfer;
- Partnerships in innovation in the sector;
- Access to assessments of technolgoies and innovation with the best chance of a positive impact to society;
Impacts and benefits to Academic users in the fields of [1] Feedstocks, pre-processing and safety; [2] Conversion; [3] Utilisation, emissions and impact; [4] Sustainability and Whole systems, include:
- Access to and collaboration in world-leading, transformative research, which advances knowledge concerning innovative bioenergy technologies, sustainability and social acceptability, and policy mechanisms for acheiving these;
- Development of new collaborations and leaverage of further funding to support their activities;
- Access to knowledge and expertise and networking and dissemination events;
- Research exchange opportunities for mutual benefit and cross-fertilisation of ideas and innovation
