Novel approach to production of high-value biochemicals and simultaneous removal of emerging contaminants using waste biomass by biofilm reactors

全球发酵衍生精细化学品市场在2009年为160亿美元，预计到2016年将增加到761.6亿美元。大多数这些生物化学物质是通过分批和补料分批发酵开发的，与连续操作相比，需要更高的生产成本。为了解决这些问题，可以使用生物膜反应器来处理垃圾生物质，如城市和工业垃圾。这些废物还含有新出现的污染物，需要对这些污染物进行监测，以确定所开发产品的完全无毒。拟议的研究方案考虑了一种新的方法，以生产高价值的生物化学品，同时利用创新的生物膜技术对废物进行解毒。这项研究可分为三个主要目标和六个子目标：a)真菌生物膜的开发；a)利用胶囊化技术开发先进、稳定的真菌生物膜反应器；b)生物膜生理学研究；b：平台生物化学品的生物生产：c)米根霉菌生产延胡索酸；d)真菌黄曲霉生产苹果酸；e)真菌生物质再利用和技术经济分析；和C：生物生产过程中新出现的污染物(ECs)的同时去除：f)确定生物化学物质生物生产过程中主要废物结合的ECs的去向。为非常规废物生物质流开发生物膜反应器技术的原始方法将进一步增强我们对这些过程在生物化学品生产中的稳健性和利用的知识。此外，这一多学科项目将为加拿大HQP的产生提供机会，即本科生和研究生(硕士、博士)。在应用微生物学、生化工程、分析化学、环境化学、废水处理与处置和废水污泥管理等不同学科。

The global market for fermentation derived fine chemicals in 2009 was $16 billion and is forecasted to increase to $76.16 billion by 2016. Most of these biochemicals have been developed through batch and fed-batch fermentation requiring higher production costs as compared to a continuous operation. To address these issues, biofilm reactors can be used to process waste biomass, such as municipal and industrial wastes. These wastes are also loaded with emerging contaminants which need to be monitored to ascertain the complete non-toxicity of the developed product. The proposed research programme considers a novel approach to produce high-value biochemicals and simultaneously detoxify the wastes using innovative biofilm technology. The research can be grouped into three principal objectives and 6 sub-objectives: A: Fungal biofilm development; a) development of advanced, stable fungal biofilm reactors using encapsulation technique, and b) biofilm physiology study; B: Bioproduction of platform biochemicals: c) production of fumaric acid by the fungus, Rhizopus oryzae, d) production of malic acid by the fungus, Aspergillus flavus, and e) fungal biomass reuse and techno-economic analysis; and C: Simultaneous removal of emerging contaminants (ECs) during bioproduction: f) determination of fate of principal waste bound ECs during the bioproduction of biochemicals.The original approach of development of biofilm reactor technologies for the non-conventional waste biomass streams will further enhance our knowledge on robustness and utilization of these processes for the production of biochemicals. Additionally, this multidisciplinary project will provide opportunities in the generation of HQP for Canada, namely, undergraduates and graduate students (M.Sc, Ph.D.) in different disciplines of applied microbiology, biochemical engineering, analytical chemistry, environmental chemistry, wastewater treatment and disposal and wastewater sludge management.