Chemical Engineering August 2014 - 15

Demonstration of methane fermentation to lactic acid
W
hat is said to be the world's first
fermentation pathway from methRO-2931C
Christine B. - Motionless Mixer 1/2 pg Ad for Chem. Engineering | Size (Live): 7 " x 4.875 " 4-C | Date: 01/04/13 | SCD#12ROSS112
ane to lactic acid has been demonstrated
by Calysta, Inc. (Menlo Park,
Calif.; www.calysta.com). The fermentation
process begins with an organism
that feeds off of methane rather
than typical sugar-based feedstocks
and, through synthetic biology, has
been altered to convert that methane
to high levels of lactic acid. This lactic
acid production process will be jointly
developed under an agreement with
biopolymer producer NatureWorks,
LLC (Minnetonka, MN; www.natureworksllc.com),
who produces polylactic
acid for numerous applications,
including textiles, consumer plastics
and 3D printing.
Although their current work is
focused exclusively on lactic acid,
Calysta emphasizes that the methane-fermentation
platform could be
tailored to produce a number of different
chemical products, meaning
ence and technology (AIST; Tsukuba
City, Japan; www.aist.go.jp) have developed
a procedure for making the
catalysts used in catalytic converters
for treating the exhaust from diesel
engines. The process, developed with
support from a New Energy and Industrial
Technology Development Or7.0 "
" Which
static mixer is right
for you? Let me show you. "
Ross offers expert support and the world's broadest selection
of static mixers for applications involving turbulent or laminar
flow. With no moving parts, our heavy duty LPD, LLPD and
ISG designs are ideal for sanitary and non-sanitary mixing,
with choices for ultra-low ∆P and unlimited viscosity.
4.875 "
Christine Banaszek
Applications Engineer
Employee Owner
For a free white paper, visit StaticMixers.com/Learn
Or call Christine Banaszek today: 1-800-243-ROSS
that methane sourced from landfill
gas, rice farming or wastewatertreatment
processes could be harnessed
to produce more valuable endproducts.
One of the main hurdles to
reaching commercial-scale production
is overcoming the mass-transfer
issues associated with fermentation
processes, which usually take
place in large, stirred-tank reactors.
Through a partnership with Celanese
Corp. (Irving, Tex.; www.celanese.com),
funded by the U.S. Dept.
of Energy (www.energy.gov) and the
recent acquisition of Bioprotein A/S
(www.bioprotein.no), Calysta is seeking
an enhanced loop-bioreactor design
that would allow for the process
to be more economic and efficient for
commercial adoption.
This production process cuts Pt usage
in catalytic converters in half
C
hemists from the National Institute
of Advanced Industrial Sciganization
(NEDO) project, has the
potential to decrease the usage of Pt
by 50%, while enabling mass production
of the Pt-Pd nanoparticle catalyst.
To
make the catalyst, alumina
powder is first impregnated using an
aqueous solution of a salt of the precious
metals with a small amount of
(Continues on p. 16)
Scan to learn more.
Free Tag Reader: http://gettag.mobi
Circle 17 on p. 68 or go to adlinks.che.com/50979-17
ChemiCal engineering www.Che.Com august 2014 15

http://www.cela http://www.nese.com http://www.energy.gov http://www.calysta.com http://www.bioprotein.no http://www.nature http://www.worksllc.com http://www.aist.go.jp http://www.StaticMixers.com/Learn http://www.gettag.mobi http://adlinks.che.com/50979-17 http://www.Che.Com

Chemical Engineering August 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Chemical Engineering August 2014