Within the Innovation Alliance Biosurfactants, companies and research institutions have joined forces to find sustainable and scalable alternatives to chemically synthesized surfactants, often made from fossil raw materials. Our alliance is researching and developing the production of biosurfactants using biotechnological methods based on local renewable raw and residual materials and systematically investigating their potential applications – for example in detergents, cosmetics, crop protection and lubricant additives.
Initially, the provision of regionally available sugar, fat, and oil-containing raw materials was considered. Various microorganisms for producing different classes of biosurfactants, such as glycolipids and lipopeptides, were examined, promising candidates for subsequent laboratory-scale process development were selected, and the biosurfactants were produced and assessed regarding their possible applications. This work was supported by an academic institution specializing in life cycle assessments (LCA).
Subsequently, fermentation and downstream processes were further developed to ensure robust, controllable processes and simplified downstream processing methods, allowing gradual scaling to a working volume of 40 liters and beyond. In fermentation, feeding concepts were developed to increase biosurfactant concentrations and yields. Technologies like Raman spectroscopy and soft sensors were also employed to better characterize and automate the processes. The complex issue of foam formation in the bioreactor was investigated and sometimes utilized for product separation.
By providing our application partners with larger sample quantities, it was ultimately possible to carry out extensive physico-chemical investigations of the biosurfactants. In a broad screening, the various biosurfactants were tested for suitability in manifold applications. The tests ranged from technical applications (crop protection, fire-fighting foam, etc.) to use in home care products (MGSM, detergents, cleaners, etc.) and testing in personal care formulations (emulsions, foaming products).
In a tandem presentation, we would like to introduce the Innovation Alliance Biosurfactants and highlight the main results of the project.