Biotechnologie und die mit ihr verbundenen technischen Prozesse prägen seit Jahrtausenden die Entwicklung der Menschheit. Ausgehend von empirischen Verfahren, insbesondere zur Herstellung von Lebensmitteln und täglichen Gebrauchsgütern, haben sich diese Disziplinen zu einem der innovativsten Zukunftsfelder entwickelt. Durch das immer detailliertere Verständnis zellulärer Vorgänge können mittlerweile Produktionsstämme gezielt optimiert werden. Im Zusammenspiel mit moderner Prozesstechnik können so eine Vielzahl von Bulk- und Feinchemikalien sowie Pharmazeutika effizient hergestellt werden. In diesem Artikel werden exemplarisch einige der aktuellen Trends vorgestellt.
For several thousand years, biotechnology and its associated technical processes have had a great impact on the development of mankind. Based on empirical methods, in particular for the production of foodstuffs and daily commodities, these disciplines have become one of the most innovative future issues. Due to the increasing detailed understanding of cellular processes, production strains can now be optimized. In combination with modern bioprocesses, a variety of bulk and fine chemicals as well as pharmaceuticals can be produced efficiently. In this article, some of the current trends in biotechnology are discussed.
The development of a cost-effective hydrolysis for crude cellulose is an essential part of biorefinery developments. To establish such high solid hydrolysis, a new solid state reactor with static mixing is used. However, concentrations >10% (w/w) cause a rate and yield reduction of enzymatic hydrolysis. By optimizing the synergetic activity of cellulolytic enzymes at solid concentrations of 9%, 17% and 23% (w/w) of crude Organosolv cellulose, glucose concentrations of 57, 113 and 152 g L⁻¹ are reached. However, the glucose yield decreases from 0.81 to 0.72gg⁻¹ at 17% (w/w). Optimal conditions for hydrolysis scale-up under minimal enzyme addition are identified. As result, at 23% (w/w) crude cellulose the glucose yield increases from 0.29 to 0.49gg⁻¹. As proof of its applicability, biobutanol, succinic and itaconic acid are produced with the crude hydrolysate. The potential of the substrate is proven e.g. by a high butanol yield of 0.33gg⁻¹.
The composition of plant biomass varies depending on the feedstock and pre-treatment conditions and influences its processing in biorefineries. In order to ensure optimal process conditions, the quantitative proportion of the main polymeric components of the pre-treated biomass has to be determined. Current standard procedures for biomass compositional analysis are complex, the measurements are afflicted with errors and therefore often not comparable. Hence, new powerful analytical methods are urgently required to characterize biomass. In this contribution, Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) was applied in combination with multivariate data analysis (MVA) to detect the cellulose content of the plant biomass pretreated by Liquid Hot Water (LHW) and Organosolv processes under various conditions. Unlike conventional techniques, the developed analytic method enables the accurate quantification of monosaccharide content of the plant biomass without any previous sample preparation. It is easy to handle and avoids errors in sample preparation.