Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGBThe object of the working group is the development of biotechnological processes for the production or recovery of industrially relevant materials, such as basic chemicals, fine chemicals, biogenic materials, but also, for example, metallic raw materials.
The processes are based on the biological activity of microorganisms, especially anaerobic bacteria or enzymes. Depending on the problem and application, process development includes the enrichment and isolation of suitable bacteria, identification and purification of technically applicable enzymes, development of new reactor concepts and biotechnical processes on laboratory and pilot plant scale as well as downstream processing.
The starting materials are renewable raw materials, but above all organic residues from agriculture, the agricultural industry, the food, paper, pharmaceutical and chemical industries and waste management. The focus is on residual material flows that have not yet been recycled in a value-adding manner and/or represent an environmental burden.
Anaerobic biotechnological processes
With the help of bacteria, basic chemicals such as lactic acid, ethanol, propanediol, ethylene are produced mainly in anaerobic processes from defined industrial residue streams such as whey or from the cellulose or hemicellulose fraction from the lignocellulose biorefinery.