SBIR Phase I: Development of a bioprocess technology for the production of a non-corrosive and environmentally benign deicing chemical from waste byproducts

这一小型企业创新研究第一阶段项目的更广泛影响是降低了道路和公路基础设施维修成本，并通过使用低成本、可生物降解和无腐蚀性的除冰剂来替代盐类而产生环境效益。为了安全起见，冬天在道路上使用除冰化学品。典型的盐对混凝土、钢筋和桥面具有极强的腐蚀性，因此导致数十亿美元的道路维修和基础设施恢复成本。由于这些盐不会生物降解，它们会在环境中积累，并增加湖泊和地下水以及供水中的盐度。以醋酸盐为基础的化学品是有效的除冰剂，腐蚀和对环境的影响最小，但它们的生产成本可能很高。这个项目将改变废物的用途，以生产一种低成本的除冰器，以降低基础设施成本和改善环境质量。拟议的项目将提供一种新的具有成本效益的低pH值生物转化工艺，用于从碳水化合物废物中生产醋酸和乳酸。目前没有用于生产醋酸的工业生物转化设施，因为在中性pH条件下从发酵液中吸附或提取酸的回收成本很高。该项目将在足够低的pH值下推进糖的生物转化，在那里产品回收效率很高。通过树脂吸附或液-液萃取回收酸的效率比在中性pH下运行的厌氧发酵高约12倍。该项目将开发一种在生产醋酸盐除冰器时利用大量可利用的有机和无机废物的工艺。半纤维素是自然界中含量第二丰富的碳水化合物，由于生物转化效率低，不能用于乙醇发酵。该工艺以半纤维素水解液为底物。在低pH值下连续发酵将被优化以获得高有机酸产量。将进行多组分吸附研究，以优化从发酵液中回收有机酸的方案。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact of this Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project is reduced costs of road and highway infrastructure repairs and environmental benefits from the use of a low-cost biodegradable and non-corrosive deicer substitute for salts. Deicing chemicals are applied to roads in winter for safety. Typical salts are highly corrosive to concrete, reinforcing steel, and bridge decks, and hence cause billions of dollars in road repair and infrastructure rehabilitation costs. Because these salts do not biodegrade, they accumulate in the environment and increase salinity in lakes and ground waters, as well as in water supplies. Acetate-based chemicals are effective deicers with minimal corrosion and environmental effects, but they can be expensive to produce. This project will repurpose wastes to produce a low-cost deicer for reduced infrastructure costs and enhanced environmental quality.The proposed project will provide a new cost-effective low pH bioconversion process for the production of acetic and lactic acids from carbohydrate wastes. There are currently no industrial bioconversion facilities for the production of acetic acid due to the high recovery costs for the sorption or extraction of the acid from the broth at neutral pH. This project will advance bioconversion of sugars at sufficiently low pH values where the product recovery efficiency is high. Acid recovery by adsorption on resins or liquid-liquid extraction is about twelve times more efficient with the proposed process than with anaerobic fermentations that operate at neutral pH. This project will develop a process to utilize abundantly available organic and inorganic wastes in the production of the acetate deicer. Hemicellulose, the second most abundant carbohydrate in nature, is not utilized in ethanol fermentations due to the low efficiency of bioconversion. Hemicellulose hydrolysate will be used as substrate in the proposed process. Continuous fermentations at low pH values will be optimized for high organic acids productivities. Multicomponent adsorption studies will be conducted to optimize the schemes for the recovery of the organic acids from the fermentation broth.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.