Bio-derived Feedstocks for Sustainable, UK-Based Manufacture of Chemicals and Pharmaceutical Intermediates

用于英国可持续生产化学品和医药中间体的生物衍生原料

• 批准号: EP/K014897/1
• 负责人: Gary Lye
• 金额: $ 245.06万
• 依托单位: University College London
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2013 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=EP%2FK014897%2F1
• 关键词: Bio; derived; Feedstocks; Sustainable; UK; Bio; derived; Feedstocks; Sustainable; UK

The chemical and pharmaceutical industries are currently reliant on petrochemical derived intermediates for the synthesis of a wide range of valuable products. Decreasing petrochemical reserves and concerns over costs and greenhouse gas emissions are now driving the search for renewable sources of organic synthons. This project aims to establish a range of new technologies to enable the synthesis of a range of chemicals from sugar beet pulp (SBP) in a cost-effective and sustainable manner. The UK is self-sufficient in the production of SBP which is a by-product of sugar beet production (8 million tonnes grown per year) and processing. Currently SBP is dried in an energy intensive process and then used for animal feed. The ability to convert SBP into chemicals and pharmaceutical intermediates will therefore have significant economic and environmental benefits.SBP is a complex feedstock rich in carbohydrate (nearly 80% by weight). The carbohydrate is made up of roughly equal proportions of 3 biological polymers; cellulose, hemicellulose and pectin. If the processing of SBP is to be cost-effective it will be necessary to find uses for each of these substances. Here we propose a biorefinery approach for the selective breakdown of all 3 polymers, purification of the breakdown compounds and their use to synthesise a range of added value products such as speciality chemicals, pharmaceuticals and biodegradable polymers. It is already well known that cellulose can be broken down into hexose sugars and fermented to ethanol for use in biofuels. Here we will focus on the release of galacturonic acid (from pectin) and arabinose (from hemicellulose) and their conversion, by chemical or enzymatic means, into added value products. We will also exploit the new principles of Synthetic Biology to explore the feasibility of metabolically engineering microbial cells to simultaneously breakdown the polymeric feed material and synthesise a desired product, such as aromatic compounds, in a single integrated process. In conducting this research we will adopt a holistic, systems-led, approach to biorefinery design and operation. Computer-based modelling tools will be used to assess the efficiency of raw material, water and energy utilisation. Economic and Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) approaches will then be employed to identify the most cost-effective and environmentally benign product and process combinations. The project is supported by a range of industrial partners from raw material producer to intermediate technology providers and end-user chemical and pharmaceutical companies. This is crucial in providing business and socio-economic insights regarding the adoption of renewable resources into their current product portfolios. The company partners will also provide the material and equipment resources for the large-scale verification of project outcomes and their ultimate transition into commercial manufacture.

化学和制药行业目前依赖于石化衍生的中间体，用于合成各种有价值的产品。减少石化储量和对成本和温室气体排放的担忧现在正在推动寻找有机合成子的可再生能源。该项目旨在建立一系列新技术，以使甜菜纸浆（SBP）的一系列化学物质以具有成本效益和可持续性的方式合成。英国在SBP的生产中是自给自足的，这是甜菜生产的副产品（每年生长800万吨）和加工。目前，SBP在能源密集型过程中干燥，然后用于动物饲料。因此，将SBP转换为化学物质和药物中间体的能力将具有重大的经济和环境益处。SBP是富含碳水化合物的复杂原料（近80％按重量）。碳水化合物由3种生物聚合物的比例大致相等。纤维素，半纤维素和果胶。如果SBP的处理是具有成本效益的，则有必要为每种物质找到用途。在这里，我们提出了一种生物填充方法，用于选择性分解所有3种聚合物，纯化分解化合物以及它们用于合成一系列附加值产品（例如特种化学品，药品，可生物降解的聚合物）的范围。众所周知，纤维素可以分解成己糖糖并发酵乙醇以用于生物燃料中。在这里，我们将重点关注半乳酸（从果胶）和阿拉伯糖（从半纤维素中）释放，及其通过化学或酶法的转化释放到添加的价值产物中。我们还将利用合成生物学的新原理来探索代谢工程微生物细胞的可行性，以同时分解聚合物饲料材料并合成所需的产物，例如芳族化合物，在单个集成过程中。在进行这项研究时，我们将采用整体，系统主导的方法来进行生物融资设计和操作。基于计算机的建模工具将用于评估原材料，水和能源利用率的效率。然后，将采用经济和生命周期分析（LCA）方法来确定最具成本效益，最环保的产品和过程组合。该项目得到了从原材料生产商到中级技术提供商以及最终用户化学和制药公司的一系列工业合作伙伴的支持。这对于提供有关在其当前产品组合中采用可再生资源的商业和社会经济见解至关重要的。公司合作伙伴还将提供材料和设备资源，以大规模验证项目成果及其最终过渡到商业制造。