Harnessing potential of biological CO2 capture for Circular Economy

Partners involved in WP3 have made significant progress during the lifetime of the project with minor setbacks. The latest updates are mainly related to “Task 3.4 – Scale-up operation using second generation feedstocks”, where DTU and LBP are now focused on scaling up the bioSA fermentation process for achieving simultaneous bioSA production and biogas upgrading.

DTU has just finalized the design of the concept of the process, which will involve coupling the fermentation process with an in-situ product recovery (ISPR) system based on electrochemical extraction. Currently, lab tests are being carried out for fine-tuning the dimensions and configuration of the ISPR unit, and construction of this unit is expected to start in August. The addition of the ISPR unit is anticipated to improve the final quality of the bioSA produced significantly, at the same time that bioSA is up-concentrated, lowering the costs of downstream.

DTU is also finalizing a new hybrid model coupling a dynamic modeling approach with a Flux Balance Analysis approach using metabolic models. This hybrid model is expected to significantly improve the predictive capacity of traditional dynamic models and reduce the need for optimization experiments at pilot scale.

Progress in “Task 3.5 – Downstream separation, assessment of bioSA purity and bioplastic potential use” will take place in parallel with the pilot fermentation experiments of Task 3.4.