BIOPOL

Obtaining biopolymers from by-products of the dairy industry and their application in sectors of interest.

The main objective of the project is the research, development and validation of a new process for obtaining biopolymers, based on the use of by-products and waste flows generated in the dairy industry. In order to determine the viability of the biopolymers obtained, they will be applied to the development of controlled release encapsulates and adsorbents for environmental remediation.

The BIOPOL consortium is made up of five Galician companies:

INDUTEC INGENIEROS S.L.U, leader of the group, will contribute its extensive experience in the design and construction of installations in the food sector and, together with SOLUCIONES ELÉCTRICAS DE GALICIA S.L, will be responsible for the development of the biopolymer production process and the design and construction of the prototype necessary to obtain these biopolymers.

ENSO INNOVATION S.L. will carry out the validation of the biopolymers obtained through the development of adsorbents.

DAIRYLAC S.L. will design the strategy for the use of by-products from the dairy sector, characterising and evaluating the streams with the greatest potential for their application in obtaining biopolymers, and will also have the support of the rest of the consortium to determine the determining factors in the process of extracting and obtaining biopolymers.

CREACIONES AROMATICAS S.A, will carry out the validation of biopolymers through the development of different encapsulated products.

SOLUCIONES ELÉCTRICAS DE GALICIA S.L, will provide the consortium with its know-how in the development of monitoring, control and automation systems, necessary for the operation of the process.

The project also has the collaboration of the CETIM Technological Centre, a centre focused on developing research, technologies and innovation in different sectors and economic activities through its Knowledge Areas: Advanced Materials (lignocellulosic materials, polymers and coatings and sustainable construction materials), Eco Bio Technologies (water and air treatment and circular economy and biorefinery) and Digital Industry (automation and engineering solutions and information and communication technologies).

This project is subsidised by the Axencia Galega de Innovación within the framework of the 2018 call of the CONECTA PYME Programme. It has been supported by the Consellería de Economía, Empleo e Industria (Xunta de Galicia) and is co-financed by the Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) in the framework of the Operational Programme ERDF Galicia 2014-2020, Thematic Objective 1: “Promoting technological development, innovation and quality research”.

PRINCIPALES AVANCES DEL PROYECTO:

MAIN DEVELOPMENTS IN THE PROJECT:

Annuality 2018:

The project began by identifying the waste flows from the dairy industry that could potentially be valorised to obtain biopolymers, as well as their characterisation. In addition, the requirements of the biological process for the production of biopolymers were defined, as well as the specific characteristics that the biopolymers produced must have for each of the two final applications (adsorbents for environmental remediation and fragrance encapsulation).

Annuality 2019:

At the beginning of the year, the characterisation of the waste flows was completed, selecting an optimal mixture for the process according to its composition. Next, the start-up of the biological system for biopolymer production at laboratory scale was carried out, consisting of three bioreactors; acidification, enrichment and accumulation. Throughout this year, different operating conditions of the bioreactors were evaluated, optimising the conditions to maximise biopolymer production. In parallel to this task, different biopolymer extraction tests were carried out in order to improve the efficiency of this stage of the biopolymer production process. During this year, the design, automation and control of the pilot plant was also carried out, which will be validated in the following year, based on the results obtained at laboratory scale.

In terms of final applications, the use of the biopolymer as a heavy metal adsorbent, both unmodified and conjugated with other polymers, has been evaluated. In addition, initial tests have also been carried out on the encapsulation of essential oils with the commercial biopolymer.

Annuality 2020:

In the last year of the project, the pilot plant for the production of biopolymers from dairy waste was validated. For this purpose, continuous weekly monitoring has been carried out, analysing different parameters both in the feed and in the three reactors of the process. In this way it has been possible to evaluate the production of volatile fatty acids, organic load and PHB production yield, among other results.

In parallel to the operation of the pilot, two applications have been developed for the biopolymer obtained.

On the one hand, several mixtures of essential fragrances have been selected and their encapsulation process has been optimised. Finally, it has been possible to test these microencapsulations in their commercial formulations.