Process Intensification for Acceleration of Bio & Chemo Catalysis in Biorefining

生物精炼厂采用可持续来源的原料作为原料，理想情况下采用非食品竞争来源的原料。这些材料被转化为有价值的材料，可以直接用于产品，如护肤霜的润肤剂或香精和香水。或者，它们可以反过来成为生产更复杂产品的后续工艺的原材料，例如用于生产聚氨酯的单体。然而，现有的工艺技术都是针对石化原料设计的。经过几十年的改进，这些工艺和相关设备已成为这些化学品和材料的最佳选择。即使有了新技术，废弃旧的工艺设备并用新设备取代它们的成本也可能使其在经济上失去吸引力。由于生物炼制行业仍在发展中，因此在不可逆转地进行长期资本投资之前，引入新的创新工艺和工艺设备是一个重要的机会。该项目旨在评估一种非常新颖的专有混合技术，该技术已经在邻近的工业部门获得了技术专利，但迄今尚未在生物精炼中得到考虑。生物精炼厂的许多操作涉及使用不溶于水的材料。这意味着在反应混合物中存在固体颗粒（如植物材料）或液体液滴（如油）。问题出现了，因为将不溶性物质转化为产品所需的催化剂或试剂必须溶解在水中。因此，反应必须发生在固体或油与水之间的界面上。在这种反应中，原料和催化剂的密切混合对快速转化至关重要。我们开发了一种新型的混合工艺，通过产生更小的液滴和颗粒，可以大大增加原料的表面积。我们的目标是通过两个示例系统的重点可行性研究来展示化学，生物学和工程学的这种新颖组合的机会。在第一个系统中，我们研究了生物精炼厂的废木质素和生物质中存在的木质素通过常见的酶的降解。以木材、秸秆等为例的木质纤维素生物质是可持续有机材料的最大单一来源。然而，这种生物质的木质素部分除了最激烈的化学处理外，对所有化学处理都有抵抗力，虽然酶在自然界中负责木质素的降解，但它们对于商业过程来说太慢了。然而，木质素是可再生原料中少数芳香族化合物的来源之一，这些都是重要的工业产品。因此，一个商业上可行的途径来降解木质素将是极具吸引力的工业。在第二个系统中，我们的目标是从生物炼制原料中提取植物油，而不是将它们全部转化为生物柴油，我们的目标是将它们氧化成更有价值的中间原料，例如用于制备塑料的材料。因此，我们在一定程度上用植物塑料代替了石油塑料，同时也为与生物炼制相关的新产业创造了机会。对于这两个例子，转化都将在水中完成，而不需要任何额外的化学物质的帮助，这些化学物质传统上是为了克服加工问题或调节原材料以使其更容易处理而引入的。因此，混合器将简化流程，减少浪费，并通过消除与分离和净化相关的额外处理步骤来降低能耗。由于所有这些都增加了生产化学品的成本，并可能产生污染，化学，生物和工程的成功整合将从可再生资源中产生更清洁的产品，提供潜在的商业机会。

Biorefineries take as their feedstock materials from sustainable sources and ideally from non-food competitive sources. These materials are converted into valuable materials which may be used directly in products such as emollients for skin care creams or flavour and fragrances. Alternatively they may in turn be a raw material for a subsequent process which produces more complex products such as a monomer used for production of polyurethanes. However the existing process technologies have been designed for petrochemical based feedstocks. Such processes and the associated equipment have been refined over decades to be optimal for these chemistries and materials. Even when new technologies become available the cost of scrapping old process facilities and replacing them with new equipment may make it economically unattractive. Since the biorefinery industry is still developing there is a significant opportunity to introduce new and innovative processes and process equipment before long term capital investments are irrevocably made. The project seeks to evaluate one such extremely novel proprietary mixing technology which is already producing technology patents in adjacent industry sectors but has not to date been considered in biorefining. Many operations in biorefineries involve using water-insoluble materials. This means that there are solid particles (eg plant material) or droplets of liquids (eg oil) in the reaction mixture. Problems arise because the catalysts or reagents needed to convert the insoluble materials to products have to be dissolved in the water. Therefore, the reactions have to take place at the interface between the solid or oil and the water. In such reactions the intimate mixing of the feedstock and the catalysts is crucial to rapid conversion. We have developed a new type of mixing process that can vastly increase the surface area of the feedstock by producing smaller drops and particles. We aim to demonstrate the opportunities of such a novel combination of chemistry, biology and engineering through a focussed feasibility study with two example systems. In the first system we look at the degradation of waste lignin from biorefineries and the lignin present in biomass by commonly available enzymes. Lignocellulosic biomass as exemplified by wood, straw etc. is the single biggest source of sustainable organic materials. However the lignin fraction of this biomass is resistant to all but the most aggressive of chemical treatments and, whilst enzymes are responsible for the degradation of lignin in nature, they are much too slow for commercial processes. Nevertheless, lignin is one of the few sources of aromatic compounds in renewable feedstocks, and these are important industrial products. Therefore, a commercially viable route to lignin degradation would be extremely attractive to industry. In the second system we aim to take plant oils from biorefinery feedstock and, rather than converting them all to biodiesel, our goal is to oxidise them to more valuable intermediate feedstocks, such as materials used to prepare plastics. Thus we partly replace plastics made from oil with plastics made from plants,while also generating opportunities for new industries associated with the biorefinery. For both examples the conversions will be achieved in water without the aid of any of the additional chemicals which are traditionally introduced to overcome processing problems or to condition raw materials to make them easier to work with. Therefore, the mixer will simplify the processes and reduce waste, and also decrease energy consumption through the elimination of extra processing steps associated with separation and purification. As all of these things add to the cost of producing a chemical and may produce pollution, successful integration of the chemistry, biology and engineering will yield cleaner products from renewable resources, offering potential business opportunities.