BioCat Project Group
Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology
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- © Architekturbüro Hans-Peter Gartner
In view of the worldwide growing shortage of resources, rising crude oil prices and the simultaneous development of sustainable processes and products, the use of renewable raw materials in industrial sectors such as the chemical industry and energy is gaining significant importance. According to current studies of the Verband der Chemischen Industrie (Federation of the German Chemical Industry) and the Fachagentur Nachwachsende Rohstoffe (FNR, Agency for Renewable Resources), only 13 percent of the resources used in the German chemical industry are renewable today (2010). An increase to 20 percent is estimated for the year 2020. To reach this goal new chemical-catalytic processes as well as processes of white biotechnology are playing a key role. With the Project Group BioCat “Catalytic Processes for a Sustainable Supply of Raw Materials and Energy on the Basis of Renewable Resources” the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft is making its contribution to changing the raw materials used in the chemical industry.
- Fields of Research
- Good to Know
- Projects
- Services
- Equipment
- Publications
- Organization
Fields of Research
The focus of the research is on the development of catalytic processes and new products for a sustainable supply of raw materials and energy on the basis of renewable resources. Key technologies of chemical catalysis as well as of white biotechnology are being employed in the material utilization of biomass and CO2 as well as the combination of chemical and bio-catalysis. New methods for the development of (bio-) catalysts are also being established and utilized here. Amongst other things, these catalysts are to be used, for the conversion of terpenes, obtained from plants and residual materials in wood processing, into epoxides and monomers for the polymer industry. Starting with lignin, the aim is to produce monomers for example for conductive polymers or to synthesize functionalized carboxylic acids and bio-based surfactants from plant oils and fatty acids. Here, the objective is to achieve the best possible creation of added value from the raw material biomass to the bio-based end product.
Good to Know
The next generation of catalysts and processes permitting the use of biomass and CO2 as a basic source of raw materials instead of crude oil must already be developed today. The Project Group BioCat is aiming to speed up this development within the scope of “Green” or “Sustainable Chemistry” and make a decisive contribution to this field. To this end, it is following up the approach of developing new chemical and bio-catalytic processes for the material utilization of renewable resources and above all of combining chemical and biotechnological methods in a suitable way in order to make proper use of the material variety of plant-derived biomass.
Funding
For the establishment of the IGB project group BioCat the government of Bavaria granted financial support for funding to the tune of 5 million euros from the program BayernFIT - research, innovation, and technology in the summer of 2009. On February 2, 2010, the president of the government of Lower Bavaria handed over the letter of approval for funding.
Location Straubing
Projects
current research
- utilisation of Lignin
- utilisation of CO2
- enzyme supported epoxidation of olefins
- enzymatic esterification for the synthesis of biobased surfactants
- biocatalytic transformations of terpenes
- chemocatalytic transformations of terpenes
Examples
- EU project ChiBio
Development of an integrated biorefinery for processing chitin rich biowaste to specialty and fine chemicals - more info
Services
- Screening of bio- and chemical catalysts
- Optimization of enzymes and enzyme reactions by enzyme engineering and enzyme immobilization
- Design of processes for utilizing waste material
- Design of processes to integrate renewable feedstock into existing processes
- Carrying out of studies in the field of renewable resources
- Analytical services in GC-MS, HPLC and NMR spectroscopy
Equipment
- High Pressure Reactors
- Fermenter
- Liquid Handling Station
- Gas Chromatography (GC-MS)
- High Pressure Liquid Chromatography (HPLC)
- 400-MHz-Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (NMR)
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