HiProSoph – High productivity Sophorolipid manufacturing for rapid market expansion

工业、监管和消费者越来越倾向于为一系列日常产品使用更绿色的替代品，特别是配方非食品(2018年，GlobalWebIndex，超过73%的生态消费者研究家庭清洁和个人护理产品的环保资质，而食品只有61%)。政府、协会和制造商的关键战略是提供表面活性剂的生物替代品，作为此类清洁和配方产品的关键成分。自20世纪90年代S以来，合成表面活性剂(石油/植物/动物衍生)的生物替代品已经存在，然而，它们目前的生产工艺存在一系列限制，包括生产率低(&lt；Holiferm旨在测试其更大规模的新型重力分离技术的可行性，方法是以具有成本效益的价格点设计生产苦豆脂(家用清洁和洗衣应用中合成表面活性剂替代活动中的关键目标分子)的示范工厂，在建设工业规模工厂之前，以具有成本效益的价位生产能够年产1000吨的工厂。此外，曼彻斯特大学将开展原料开发工作，以减少对食品级原料的依赖，重点放在较低品位甚至是废料流上。Holiferm的技术可以逐步改变槐脂的生产成本，使配方产品的制造商能够克服目前的采用障碍，将节省下来的成本转嫁给潜在的用户和消费者。Holiferm已经与领先的家用清洁和洗衣护理配方公司Star Brands合作，进行初步的初步配方工作、测试和验证，以确保示范工厂生产的材料的市场可行性。随着市场需求得到验证(通过与陶氏、汉高、巴斯夫和Star Brands等最终用户的讨论)，并建立在先前Innovate UK ICure的概念验证研究的基础上，该项目将继续验证试点规模过程。这一新颖的解决方案有可能彻底改变苦豆脂的制造方式，通过降低低价值、大批量应用的价格，允许生物表面活性剂的广泛采用。Holiferm的技术还固有地适用于生物表面活性剂和其他分子(包括甘露醇脂类(MEL)和鼠李糖脂)的一系列生物发酵过程，提供了巨大的成本节约潜力。这一创新的解决方案具有在一系列关键行业进行全球开发的潜力，并将减少合成表面活性剂对环境的影响，同时具有成本竞争力。

There is increasing industrial, regulatory and consumer sentiment towards to the use of greener alternatives for a range of everyday products with a particular focus on formulated non-food items (with over 73% of eco-consumers researching environmentally-friendly credentials of household cleaning and personal care products, compared to only 61% for food products, GlobalWebIndex, 2018).It is a key strategy for the government, associations and manufacturers to provide bio-based alternatives to surfactants as a key components in such cleaning and formulated products. Bio-based replacements for synthetic surfactants (petroleum/vegetable/animal-derived) have existed since the 1990's, however, their current production process suffers from a range of limitations including low productivity (<2 gL-1h-1), high energy costs, high water usage, significant waste-water production and downstream processing requirements that lead to a high price point, limiting the full potential of market adoption.Holiferm aims to test the feasibility of their larger-scale novel gravity separation technique by designing a demonstration plant for the production of sophorolipids (key target molecule in synthetic surfactant replacement activities in household cleaning and laundry applications) at a cost-effective price point with a facility capable of producing 1000t per annum before building an industrial-scale plant. Alongside this, The University of Manchester will undertake feedstock development work to reduce dependence on food-grade feedstocks, focussing on lower-grade or even waste-streams. Holiferm's technology enables a step-change in the cost of sophorolipid production, allowing manufacturers of formulated products to overcome current adoption barriers, passing savings onto potential users and consumers. Holiferm have engaged with Star Brands, a leading household cleaning and laundry care formulation company, to undertake initial preliminary formulation work, testing and validation to ensure market viability for material produced within the demonstration plant.With market need validated (through discussion with end-users such as Dow, Henkel, BASF and Star Brands) and building on a prior Innovate UK ICURe proof of concept study, this project will proceed to validate a pilot scale process. This novel solution has the potential to completely revolutionise the way in which sophorolipids are manufactured, allowing wide-scale adoption of biosurfactants through a reduction in price for low-value high-volume applications. Holiferm's technology is also inherently applicable to a range of biofermentation process for biosurfactants and other molecules including Mannosylerythritol Lipids (MELs) and Rhamnolipids, providing large cost saving potential. This innovative solution has the potential for global exploitation in a range key sectors and will reduce the environmental impact of synthetic surfactants whilst being cost-competitive.