Biotechnology

Question 1

Applications of Industrial Biotechnology

Answer 1

Replacement of fossil fuels by renewable raw materials, for example:
Cargill Dow polymers - polylactides
Eastman and Genencor –
   ascorbic acid
DuPont and Genencor - 1,3-propanediol
Biofuels - bioethanol, biodiesel

Question 2

Manufacture of Vitamin B2(Hoffman La-Roche, Germany)

Answer 2

Substituted multi-step chemical process with a one-step biological process using a genetically modified organism.
Land disposal of hazardous waste greatly reduced.
Waste to water discharge reduced 66%
Air emissions reduced 50%
Costs reduced by 50%

Question 3

Production of Antibiotic 7 amino-cephalosporan) (Biochemie , Germany)

Answer 3

Converted chemical synthesis to biological process.
Old chemical route – used chlorinated solvents, hazardous chemicals.
Biological process – no toxic ingredients.
Reduced air, water and land pollution discharges.

Question 4

Production of Antibiotic Cephalexin(DSM, Netherlands)

Answer 4

Involved conversion from chemical synthesis to biological synthesis.
Old process produced 30-40kg of waste per 1kg of product.
New one step biological process–eliminated the need to use methylene chloride.
Dramatically reduced waste generation and toxic emissions.

Question 5

Production of Acrylamide(Mitsubishi Rayon, Japan)

Answer 5

Conversion to enzymatic process reduced levels of all waste products as a result of high selectivity of enzymatic reaction.
Lower energy consumption for enzymatic process,
1.9 MJ/kg for old process - 0.4 MJ/kg for new process.
Enzymatic process produced lower CO2 Emissions
old process – 1.5 kg CO2/kg product
enzyme process 0.3 kg CO2/kg product

Question 6

Synthesis of Polyester Adhesives(Baxenden, Untied Kingdom)

Answer 6

Chemical process used tin or titanium catalyst at 200oC.
New enzyme process more energy efficient.
New process eliminated the need to use organic solvents and inorganic acids.
Environmental improvements were realized along with improved product quality.

Question 7

Removal of Textile Finishing Bleach Residues(Windel, Germany)

Answer 7

Hydrogen peroxide used for bleaching textiles usually requires several rinsing cycles.
New enzyme process – only one high temperature rinse is needed to remove bleach residues.
Reduced production costs
Reduced energy consumption by 14%
Reduced water consumption by 18%

Question 8

Zinc Refining (Budel Zinc, Netherlands)

Answer 8

In old process – finishing wastewater contains heavy metals, sulphuric acid and gypsum used to precipitate sulphates.
New biological process was developed using sulphate reducing bacterial enzymes for sulphate reduction.
This process allows zinc and sulphate to be converted to zinc sulphide which can then be recycled to the refinery.
As a result, no gypsum is produced, water quality has been improved and valuable zinc is recycled.

Question 9

Bioleaching of Copper Ore(Billiton, South Africa)

Answer 9

Copper smelters are generally heavy polluters.
Bacteria can be used in leaching metals from ores.
Can treat low-grade ores or concentrates containing problem elements.
Biological leaching produces environmental benefits, lowers environmental emissions and costs.
Reduces generation of particulate emissions (dust).
Using bacteria reduces sulphur dioxide emissions.
Allows safe handling of arsenic impurities in a stable form.

Question 10

Ethanol from Biomass (Iogen, Canada)

Answer 10

Ethanol currently produced by fermenting grain (old technology).
Cellulose enzyme technology allows conversion of crop residues (stems, leaves and hulls) to ethanol.
Results in reduced CO2 emissions by more than 90% (compared to oil).
Allows for greater domestic energy production and it uses a renewable feedstock.

Question 11

Bio-Polymer Production (Cargill-Dow, USA)

Answer 11

Production of Polylactic acid (PLA) polymer from corn sugar replaces petroleum feedstock.
PLA can replace PET, polyesters and polystyrene.
PLA is compostable.
PLA is carbon neutral – CO2 is recycled.
In the future, PLA will be made from ligno-cellulosic biomass.

Question 12

Wood pulp process(Leykam, Austria)

Answer 12

In traditional pulping – wood chips are boiled in a chemical solution to yield pulp.
Biopulping (treatment of woodchips with a fungus) uses enzymes to selectivity degrade lignin and to break down wood cell walls.
If next step is mechanical treatment, result is 30-40% reduction in energy inputs.
If next step is chemical treatment, result is 30% more lignin being removed and lower amounts of chlorine bleach used.
Cost reduction due to savings on energy and chemical costs.

Question 13

Vegetable Oil Degumming(Cerol, Germany)

Answer 13

Enzymatic degumming of vegetable oils reduced amounts of caustic soda, phosphoric acid and sulfuric acid used compared to conventional processes.
Enzymatic process reduced the amount of water needed in washing and as dilution water.
Sludge production was reduced by a factor of 8.

Question 14

Oil Well CompletionBP Exploration

Answer 14

Oil well drilling uses “muds” to lubricate the drilling string and to coat the insides of a bore hole with a layer of “cake”.
After a well is drilled, the cake must be removed or “broken”. Traditional breakers are strong acids or other harsh chemicals.
Enzyme breakers were developed especially for advanced horizontal drilling procedures.
Advantages of enzyme breakers are high specificity, lower risk of formation damage, even degradation of filter cake, and using enzymes reduces acids or petro chemicals in water/mud discharge.

Question 15

Government policy

Answer 15

If government regulators include industrial biotechnology in pilot programs or innovative pollution prevention strategies they can help promote the diffusion of this green technology into many industrial sectors.

Government can help the private sector prevent pollution AND help companies cut costs significantly.