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Increasing the economic viability of utilising CO2 from flue gas to produce biogas and bioplastic with photoautotrophic cyanobacteria

Project Leader

Drosg Bernhard, BOKU Project Leader

Duration:

01.03.2015-30.06.2018

Programme:

Energieforschung - Kooperative F&E-Projekte - Experimentelle Entwicklung

Type of Research

Technological Development

Project partners

ANDRITZ Energy & Environment GmbH (AE&E) , Waagner-Biro-Platz 1, 8074 Raaba, Austria.
Contact person: Dr. Günter Gronald;
Function of the Project Partner: Partner

EVN AG, EVN Platz, 2344 Maria Enzersdorf, Austria.
Contact person: Dr. Gerald Kinger;
Function of the Project Partner: Koordinator

Staff

Fritz Ines, Sub Projectleader

Silvestrini Lucia, Project Staff (bis 30.06.2016)

Troschl Clemens, Project Staff (bis 30.09.2018)

Ludwig Katharina, Project Staff

Hasoglu Tayfun, Project Staff (bis 30.09.2016)

BOKU Research Units

Institute for Environmental Biotechnology

Funded by

Austrian Research Promotion Agency, Sensengasse 1, 1090 Wien, Austria

EVN AG, EVN Platz, 2344 Maria Enzersdorf, Austria

Abstract

The production of biogas and bioplastics (polyhydroxybutyric acid – PHB) from CO2-rich flue gases is a very promising approach. However, for an economically viable process, it is necessary to optimize the weak points of the process. The most important aim is to increase PHB yields from 5-10% to 30-40% of cell biomass. This will be achieved on the one hand by genetic strain improvement and on the other hand by screening for PHB producing wild type strains and a possible mutagenesis of them. A further approach is mixotrophic growth on fatty acid byproducts from the biogas hydrolysis step. In addition, cheap CO2-sources such as direct flue gas from caloric power plants or biomass combustion plants as well as CO2-rich off-gases from bioethanol production are used for growing cyanobacteria in a pilot-scale photobioreactor.

Keywords

Environmental biotechnology; Industrial biotechnology; Fermentation;

biogas; cyanobacteria; polyhydroxybutyric acid; process optimisation;