che_july-2024 - 8

Materials, introduces a
transformative approach to
significantly accelerate the
development of new biomaterials.
" By leveraging the
power of AI [artificial intelligence]
and synthetic biology,
we have managed to
fine-tune and dramatically
speed up the design process
of new protein-based
materials, allowing for the
rapid development of biomaterials
with tailored functionalities,
achieving what
used to take years in just
months, with the potential
to further reduce this time
to minutes, " says Pezhman
Mohammadi, VTT's senior
research scientist and the
head of the study. By utilizing
machine learning algorithms,
VTT's research team
was able to efficiently sift
through thousands of protein
structures to pinpoint
the most promising candidates
for laboratory synthesis.
The research team,
including collaborators from
VTT, the Polish Academy of
Sciences, Temple University,
Nanyang Technological University
and Aalto University.
Valmet
land;
HEAT RECOVERY
Oyj
(Espoo,
Finwww.valmet.com)
will
supply its DNA Automation
technology to the
data center heat-recovery
concept developed by
Fortum Oyj (Espoo, Finland;
www.fortum.com)
and Microsoft Corp.
(Redmond, Wash.; www.
microsoft.com).
Valmet
DNA will control water-towater
heat pumps, air-towater
heat pumps and two
electric boilers at two Fortum
Power and Heat Oy's
heat-pump plants, which
will be built in Espoo and
Kirkkonummi, Finland.
The heat-pump plants will
recycle excess heat from Microsoft's
two planned large
data center areas to Fortum's
existing district heating
network. The data centers
will eventually provide
40% of the consumed heat
in the network area. Fortum's
district heat in Finland
will be produced coal-free
during 2024 and carbonneutrally
before 2030. ❐
8
A fungus converts cellulose directly into
a platform chemical
C
onventional bioprocesses use
three separate steps to convert
cellulose into products, such
as bioplastics and biofuels. The
consolidated bioprocess (CBP) combines
all steps - cellulase production, cellulose
hydrolysis and product fermentation - in
a single reactor.
Using the natural abilities of the nongenetically
modified fungus, Talaromyces
verruculosus, a research team from
the Leibniz Institute for Natural Product
Research and Infection Biology - Hans
Knöll Institute (Leibniz-HKI; Jena, Germany;
www.leibniz-hki.de) has discovered
a method for the efficient conversion
of cellulose into enantiopure erythroisocitric
acid - a chiral isomer of citric
acid with a large potential as a chemical
building block. The study was published
by the Jena team in the journal ACS Sustainable
Chemistry & Engineering.
As natural metabolic products of most
living organisms, citric acid and isocitric
acid are among the most widespread
acids in nature. Citric acid is produced
industrially in large quantities using the
mold fungus Aspergillus niger. With a
global production of around 2.8 million
ton/yr, it is one of the highest-volume
biotechnological products. However, citric
acid is produced from sugar and is
therefore in direct competition with food
production, so its use as a building block
has so far been neither economical nor
sustainable.
Isocitric acid is very similar to citric acid;
only one hydroxyl group is positioned on
a different carbon atom. This makes the
molecule asymmetric, with two different
diastereomers: threo- and erythro-isocitric
acid. Each diastereomer has two mirrorimage
variants, the D- and L-forms. Citric
acid and isocitric acid have almost identical
properties and it can be assumed that the
iso form would be just as widely applicable.
The reason why this is not the case is
that there has not yet been an efficient production
process for pure isocitric acid, so
it is currently only available as an expensive
(€18,000/kg) research chemical. However,
the new - now patented - production
process enables sustainable and inexpensive
production from plant waste and residues,
such as straw, waste paper or wood
residues, which could make it possible to
produce isocitric acid even more cheaply
than citric acid in the future.
A closed-loop hydrometallurgical process for
low-carbon iron processing
E
lectrification will be a key factor in
decarbonizing hard-to-abate sectors,
but challenges arise in applications
that require very high temperatures,
such as steel production. The
intense heat requirements for converting
iron ore into metal contribute significantly
to the CO2 emissions of the steel sector. A
new hydrometallurgical process that promises
to remove CO2 from this process is
being scaled up in a new pilot plant operated
by Electra (Boulder, Colo.; www.electra.energy).
" Unlike traditional methods that
rely on high temperatures near 3,000°F to
melt and chemically transform ores, which
emits significant amounts of CO2, Electra's
technology operates at 140°F, enabling
seamless integration of intermittent renewable
energy resources and making emissions-free
iron possible, " says Trevor Braun,
Electra's senior manager of electrochemical
development & testing.
Besides lower operating temperatures,
one of the reasons that Electra's process
is so suitable for electrification is its ability
to start and stop production quickly, which
promotes the use of intermittent renewable
electricity when it is available.
" Electra's process can utilize a wide variety
of iron ores, even already-mined feedstock,
dissolving them in an acidic solution
using a proprietary process. Then, we use
a hydrometallurgy technique to purify the
solution, where all the impurities are removed
and refined into separate co-products,
such as alumina and silica. After purifying
the iron solution, we use electricity to
deposit the iron from the solution onto reusable
metal plates. The iron metal is then
harvested from the steel plates and sent
to the steelmaker, " explains Braun. This
closed-loop process regenerates consumables,
such as water and acid, enabling
circular clean-iron production.
Since 2020, the process has scaled
up from producing 50-cm2 iron plates in
a bench-scale system to commercially
relevant 1-m2 plates. " The pilot plant will
continue to evaluate iron ores from all over
the world, focusing on impurity removal to
produce 99% pure iron. We're currently
evaluating sites throughout the U.S. for
the first phase of our commercial deployment, "
adds Braun.
n
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM
JULY 2024
http://www.leibniz-hki.de http://www.valmet.com http://www.fortum.com http://www.microsoft.com http://www.electra.energy http://www.electra.energy http://WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM
che_july-2024

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