Chemical Engineering July 2013 - 14

CHEMENTATOR
A biotech process that might benefit sharks
S
qualane, an emollient used in cosmetics,
will be the first product of a biotechnology
pilot plant now being started up by
Nucelis Inc. (San Diego, Calif.; www.nucelis.com),
a spin-off from Cibus (also of San
Diego). The plant will use Cibus' Rapid Trait
Development System (RTDS), a new geneediting
technology, to enable naturally occurring
yeast to increase their production of
squalene, the precursor of squalane.
RTDS (diagram) differs from genetically
modified organisms (GMO) in that it does
not involve the introduction of foreign genes
into a microorganism, says Sean O'Connor,
president of Nucelis. Instead, the organism's
own natural repair mechanism is triggered
by the introduction of oligonucleotides,
which changes the way the cells work. After
doing their job, the oligonucleotides are broken
down by the cells within 90 minutes.
O'Connor adds that the process is " more
precise than GMO. "
Nucelis has focused on squalene initially
because it fits in the company's
plan to make products
through sustainable processes,
using low-value feedstocks
that are outside the
food chain. At present the
main sources of squalene are
olive oil and sharks' livers.
Nucelis produces squalene
from glycerol, a low-cost, unwanted
byproduct of biodiesel
fuel, then converts it to
squalane by conventional
hydrogenation.
The product
is 99.7% pure, versus
a purity of 95-99% for the
shark product and 90-95% for olive oil, says
O'Connor, and the process " is competitive in
the market. "
Initially, the pilot plant is using two 200-L
fermenters. Nucelis plans to add two more
200-L fermenters next year and two more in
2015, for a total capacity of 1,200 L.
Using low-temperature waste heat to make power
N
ew Energy and Industrial Technology
Development Organization
(NEDO; Kawasaki City; www.nedo.
go.jp) and Panasonic Corp. (Osaka,
both Japan;
panasonic.net) have
begun testing a new type of power-generation
system that uses anisotropic
solid-state composites that produce an
electrical current when a temperature
gradient is applied. A prototype has
been installed at Kyoto City Northeastern
Clean Center where it will
recover waste heat from a 700-ton/d
waste incinerator and make electricity.
The incinerator generates 232.82
GJ/d of heat that cannot readily be recovered
by conventional methods due to the
low temperature of the exhaust stream.
Panasonic's thermoelectric device consists
of a tube with alternating layers of slanted
discs composed of bismuth telluride-based
thermoelectric materials (Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3)
and nickel metal. This tubular composite of
Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3/Ni with cylindrical anisotropy
introduces effective thermoelectric tensors
so that a temperature gradient along the
axis causes an electric current to flow transversely.
The tubular configuration allows for
direct and efficient heat transfer from fluid
heat sources.
Tests are being performed on a compact
(Continued from p. 12)
izer ammonium nitrate that
prevents its use in improvised
explosive devices (IED), while
still maintaining its ability to fertilize
crops. Taking advantage of
the weak binding between the
ions in ammonium nitrate, the
Sandia researchers developed
a formulation that includes iron
sulfate. The iron sulfate renders
the ammonium nitrate undetonable
when mixed with fuel, as
in an explosive device. In the
presence of iron sulfate, a waste
product from steel production,
the ions " trade, " forming iron
nitrate and ammonium sulfate,
which cannot be made to
explode. The iron sulfate has
added benefi ts for soil health,
creating less alkaline soils in
locations such as Afghanistan,
where a non-detonable fertilizer
would help prevent IED attacks.
unit made of four parallel tubes, each 100mm
with diameters of 10 mm (I.D.) and
14 mm (O.D.). The unit generates 10 W of
power (0.5 V  20 A) when the hot water
inlet temperature is 90°C, and the cooling
water inlet temperature is 10°C.
This NEDO project, which started in
July 2011 and runs through February
2014, is ultimately targeting a power generation
of more than 400 W/m3 from lowtemperature
unused heat, which is eight
times more than existing thermoelectric
devices. The power generated per installed
space is nearly twice that from solar panels,
says Panasonic.
14 CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHE.COM JULY 2013
Cold boiling
Researchers at the University of
Sheffield (U.K.; www.sheffield.
ac.uk) are developing a process
that causes water to evaporate
without boiling. The patentpending
process involves injecting
hot microbubbles to a thin
layer of liquid. The method has
been demonstrated for separating
water from methanol, and
now the researchers are working
on a pilot project with Carbon
Sequestration Ltd. to dewater
whey, which is commonly
used as animal feed. If whey is
overheated during dewatering, it
loses its nutritional value. ❏
http://www.nuce http://www.lis.com http://www.nedo http://www.go.jp http://www.panasonic.net http://www.sheffield http://www.ac.uk http://WWW.CHE.COM
Chemical Engineering July 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Chemical Engineering July 2013
