SWEET Butanol(Sugary WastEwatEr To bioButanol)

Production of bio-butanol from waste (water) streams of food/beverage industries“

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Waste to energy strategyThe Western consumption patterns marked by the logic of “disposable” have ge-nerated and continue to generate wastes production and waste that natural ecosy-stems are not able to recycle in the production times.The need to mitigate the effects of the accumulation in the environment of such waste pushes towards the development of sustainable processes in which the waste represents a resource to be exploited for the recovery of materials and energy. The strategy waste to energy is therefore one of the most effective solutions to meet the needs of industry, agriculture and services including:

employ cost-effective solutions compared to alternative energy sources

reduce the cost of waste disposal

Innovative technological solution

In contrast to the implemented solutions by large companies, which are engaged in the chain of biofuel production, this project aims at exploiting the level of innova-tion related to the reactor configuration in order to propose a solution that can be implemented in small and medium-sized enterprises through the use of bacterial strains wild-type commercially available at lower cost than those of the engineered strains.This strategy is possible thanks to the high potential for maximizing the producti-vity of fermenters in biofilms respect to the traditional ones. Moreover the process is further optimized in the case of integration of the recovery operations of the sol-vents (acetone-butanol-ethanol) with those of the waste fermentation. In fact, in-situ removal makes it possible to limit the solvents concentrations under the toxicity thresholds tolerated by microorganisms. Finally, an integrated system requires lower fixed costs than those associated with conventional train fermentation and downstream.

This project is part of the subject waste to energy with a view to extend integration between the world of the process industry and the energy industry. In fact, the primary objective is the implementation of an innovative technological solution for the conversion of industrial waste into bio-fuels, specifically the conversion of the sugar fraction of agro-food waste into bio-butanol through a fermentation process.

Market

The substantial capital investment over the last decade on industrial biotechno-logy by large companies witnesses the great hope that has been put over them as well over their ability to produce, in the short run, competitive products com-pared to those produced by the chemical and energy industry both fed by fossil fuels.

Competitiveness

The competitiveness of the project com-pared to the existing solutions is related to its degree of innovation, namely the users who is addressed to (food indust-ry) and the perspective of consolidation in the biofuel chain in Italy even in the case of scarcity of appropriate sources of lignocellulosic biomass that typical-ly are the core of the production of the most common and widespread bio-etha-nol.

Sustainability

The need is to develop bio-fuels competitive with the fuel market fossil fuels, which can be handled with the existing infrastructure and used as fuel in engines currently in use wi-thout any modification. Moreover, the raw materials for the production of biofuels should not be competing with crops for food and animals. The problem to be addressed is there-fore the need to strengthen the supply chain in Italy of bio-fuels by using renewable raw materials or industrial wastes.

biofuel

The project prospects

The extension of innovative waste to energy technologies to companies currently exclu-ded from the field of bio-fuels as a response to the demand for sustainable processes for the wastewater treatment.A contribution to the consolidation of the supply chain in Italy thanks to the exploitation of industrial wastes typical of food industry complementary to lignocellulosic biomass.

Contatti:

Francesca RaganatiDottore di Ricerca in Biotecnologie Industriali presso l’Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Piazzale V. Tecchio, 80 80125 Napoli (Italia) - email: francesca.raganati@unina.it

Maria Elena RussoRicercatore presso l’Istituto di Ricerche sulla Combustione del Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Piazzale V. Tecchio, 80 80125 Napoli (Italia) - email: russo@irc.cnr.it

Antonio Marzocchella Professore associato di Impianti Chimici presso il Dipartimento di Ingegneria Chimica dei Materiali e della Produzione Industriale dell’Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Piazzale V. Tecchio, 80 80125 Napoli (Italia) - email: antonio.marzocchella@unina.it

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