Projects

The poly-woc project is part of the new recyclable polymers sub-project, which is funded as part of the Center for Dynamic Systems' funding for further development. The project focuses on the development of an alternative manufacturing process for customized polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs). PHAs are bio-based alternatives to conventional petroleum-based plastics, which are degradable under environmental conditions. PHAs are generally an internal product, as many microorganisms store the polymer in intracellular granules. For this reason, a complex and cost-intensive extraction process is required to separate it from the remaining biomass. Furthermore, the PHAs produced by microorganisms are heterogeneously distributed and have a very broadly distributed average molecular weight of 1.76 kDa to 5.3 × 10³ kDa [1]. In addition, they have a high polydispersity (PDI>2), which often limits their direct application [2]. The possibilities of specifically influencing these material properties are severely limited in classic biotechnological production processes. The main reasons for this are the spatial structures of the granules and the fact that the activity of PHA synthases is difficult to influence. Motivated by the aforementioned limitations of cell-internal polymerization, the poly-woc project is researching polymerization outside of cells with the aim of achieving an improved cost-product balance through increased polymer quality. In addition, an upstream bioprocess is to supply the precursors for polymerization at low cost. Finally, an optimal overall process is to be proposed using model-based methods.
[1] C. Peña, T. Castillo, A. García, M. Millán, D. Segura. 2014. doi: 10.1111/1751-7915.12129. [2] M. Koller. 2022. Advances in Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) Production, Volume 3. vol. 9.
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The central objective of the project is the development of a multi-stage process for the sustainable biotechnological production of biopolymers using carbon compounds from low-cost side streams from regional industry and the application of model-based control strategies. A CO₂-utilizing microalgae process is to be coupled to a heterotrophic bacterial process for the production of biodegradable biopolymers from the group of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) in order to optimally exploit the advantages of both biotechnological processes and thus achieve an increase in yield in relation to the carbon used.
The project is a joint project that we are working on together with the Anhalt University of Applied Sciences in Köthen (Prof. Carola Griehl) and the Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Sciences (Prof. Robert Dürr). Within the joint project, Otto von Guericke University is focusing on the model-based development of a cost-effective PHA production process and the coupling of this with the microalgae process using a metabolic process model. The resulting process model will be used to optimize and control the multi-stage process.
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