Open Access

The increasing demand for bio-based chemicals and sustainable materials has placed biomass-derived lactic acid in the spotlight as a key building block for biodegradable polylactic acid (PLA). Perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) is a promising feedstock due to its high dry matter (DM) yield, adaptability, and widespread agricultural use. This study investigates an integrated lactic acid–silage cascade process, focusing on how pH regulation, harvest timing, and biomass characteristics influence lactic acid production while maintaining agronomic efficiency. The results highlighted the crucial role of pH management and silage duration in optimizing lactic acid production. A silage period of 21 days was found to be optimal, as peak lactic acid yields were consistently observed at this stage. Maintaining a pH range of 4.5 to 6 proved essential for stabilizing fermentation, with citrate buffering at pH 6 leading to the highest lactic acid yields and minimizing undesirable by-products. Harvest timing also significantly affected lactic acid yield per hectare. While later harvesting increased total DM yield, it led to a decline in lactic acid concentration per kg DM. Tetraploid ryegrass (Explosion) maintained stable lactic acid yields due to higher biomass accumulation, whereas diploid varieties (Honroso) experienced a net reduction. From an agronomic perspective, optimizing harvest timing and variety selection is key to balancing biomass yield and fermentation efficiency. While tetraploid varieties offer greater flexibility, diploid varieties require precise harvest timing to avoid losses. These findings contribute to sustainable forage management, improving lactic acid production, silage efficiency, and agricultural resource use.

Chiral, vicinal diols are of high interest for academic research and industrial applications. For synthesizing chiral diols, enzymes are important catalysts due to their high selectivity and ability to work under tolerable temperature and no pressure. In this study, two consecutive enzyme-catalyzed steps were used for the asymmetric synthesis of aliphatic, vicinal diols with high product concentrations and chiral purity. The reaction comprised a ligation step employing lyases and a subsequent reduction step using oxidoreductases. Either in an aqueous buffer or an organic solvent, the potentially biobased aldehydes acetaldehyde, propanal, butanal, and pentanal were used as substrates. Here, all possible stereoisomers of 2,3-butanediol, 3,4-hexanediol, 4,5-octanediol, and 5,6-decanediol were produced with isomeric content values between 72% and > 99%, and concentrations and conversions between 4.1 and 60 mM. This work shows how four symmetric, chiral, vicinal diols can be synthesized by combining enzymes in a modular way, including exemplarily scaling.

In most municipal wastewater treatment plants (MWWTPs) that employ activated sludge systems for nitrogen (N) removal, aeration accounts for approximately 50–60 % of all electricity consumption. Deammonifikation (DEA) is well-recognized as an energy–efficient technology although its mainstream implementation is still questionable. The aim of the presented work was to determine the operational window of various deammonifying sludges (S1–S7) in NRW from side of MWWTPs with respect to the operational factors temperature (8–50 °C), pHvalue (3.5–10.5), and COD/N ratio (0.5–6). Efficiencies up to 3 mg N L⁻¹h⁻¹were achievable even below 15 °C except for S6. All of the sludges except S6 achieved an elimination rate of more than 2.08–16 mg N L⁻¹ h⁻¹ in the main stream pH range (7–8). At a COD/N ratio > 1.5, the metabolism of DEA was disturbed. Although N/DN was suspected to have occurred at higher COD/N ratio, no increase in elimination rate was observed for most of the sludges. All the sludges fulfilled the minimum requirement of N-elimination rate (2.08 mg N L⁻¹h⁻¹ ), which leads to a comparable reactor volume to conventional WWTP. A large-scale implementation of a main stream DEA in full stream cannot yet be recommended on the basis of these results but semi-technical trials.

Industrial digestates from short-fibre residues, generated in paper recycling mills, are driving interest in resource recovery. This study aims to explore their potential for water recovery. Understanding particle dynamics aids in optimizing dewatering for digestate management. The particle size distribution in this study revealed significant fractions: <0.63 μm (6–20%), 0.63–20 μm (38–52%), and >20 μm (11–16%). Pre-treatment with Na4P2O7 and H2O2 enhances settling and lowers total dissolved solids (TDSs) but results in variation of size distribution. Additionally, this study investigates further water reuse in paper mills, focusing on the quality of ultrafiltration (UF) permeate obtained from the digestate of short fibres. UF permeate analysis reveals deviations from freshwater standards in paper mills. Despite effective TS removal, UF permeate falls short of paper mill water standards due to high TDSs, electrical conductivity, and nutrient concentrations, necessitating further downstream treatment with nanofiltration or reverse osmosis. A substantial reduction of permeate flux from 31 to 5 L/(m2·h) over the time indicated fouling and inefficient membrane wash. The silt density index of the UF membrane at 30 min registered 2.1, suggesting potential fouling. Further investigations on optimizing UF operations to enhance permeate flux and exploring alternative UF membranes are required.