Method for fermenting biomass and producing material sheets and suspensions thereof
20230052976 · 2023-02-16
Inventors
Cpc classification
C12P19/04
CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
C02F1/681
CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
C02F1/286
CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
C02F11/04
CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
C12P2203/00
CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
D21C5/005
TEXTILES; PAPER
C12P2201/00
CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
International classification
C12P19/04
CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
Abstract
A method is described to produce cellulose sheets and suspensions by fermenting biomass obtained from household and/or industrial waste. The inoculum in the fermentation includes cellulose producing bacteria and optionally yeast cells. The method has a high cellulose productivity. The resulting sheets or suspensions can be used to produce various further materials, such as disposable vessels, sachets, artificial leather. The sheet and suspensions can be used as additives in material production, such as paper making production. The method provides an alternative to make disposable items that are currently made of plastic, and textiles.
Claims
1. A method to produce cellulose containing biodegradable materials from household or industry waste, the method comprising: a. obtaining biomass derived from the waste; b. mixing the biomass with water and raising the temperature to at least 120° C.; c. obtaining a filtered primary raw material by filtering the biomass; d. directing the filtered primary raw material into one or more vessels; e. supplementing the filtered primary raw material in the one or more vessels with one or more of ammonium salt of sulfuric acid, calcium, and magnesium; and adding an inoculum suspension comprising cellulose producing bacteria; f. adjusting pH of the supplemented primary raw material in the one or more vessels to below pH 7, and sugar level of the material to 5-15 w-%; g. obtaining a main mixture by allowing the supplemented primary raw material from step f) to ferment in the one or more vessels at 22-33° C.; h. dividing part of the main mixture into containers and incubating the main mixture in the containers at 22-33° C.; i. adding portions of the main mixture incrementally from the one or more vessels to the containers every 4-15 days throughout the incubation period of step h); j. Obtaining a raw material from the containers by draining the main mixture form the containers and collecting the raw material into a collection container and directing the drained liquid back to the one or more vessels; k. obtaining purified raw material by cleaning the raw material in the collection container; and l. drying the purified raw material on a substrate to form dry cellulosic sheets.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the cellulose producing bacteria is selected from the group consisting of Acetobacter sp, Glucobacter sp, Sarcina sp, and Komagataeibacter sp.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the inoculum suspension comprises additionally yeast cells.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein the inoculum comprises more bacterial cells than yeast cells.
5. The method of claim 3, wherein the inoculum suspension comprises a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast, or Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the temperature is raised in step a) to at least 120° C. for 15 to 120 minutes.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein in step e) the filtered primary raw material is supplemented with calcium in an amount of 0.005-1.0 g/l.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein efficiency of production of bacterial cellulose is 50-950 g/l of the main mixture.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein efficiency of production of dry sheets is 5-90 g/l of the main mixture.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises a step of blending the raw material or the purified raw material to obtain a suspension.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein the suspension obtained is supplemented with grinded dry sheet material.
12. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises a step of treating the purified raw material with glycerin.
13. The method of claim 1, wherein the dry sheets are further treated to form sachets, disposable vessels, or artificial leather.
14. The method of claim 13, wherein the dry sheet are treated to form disposable vessels and method comprises a step of moistening the dry sheets to a minimum of 10% water content and placing the moistened sheet in press with a pressure of at least 25 ton at a temperature up to 125° C.
15. The method of claim 13, wherein the dry sheets are treated to form sachets and the method comprises a step of moistening the dry sheets to a minimum of 10% water content and placing the moistened sheet in a foil welding device.
16. The method of claim 1, wherein the dry sheets are treated to form artificial leather and the method comprises a step of moistening the dry sheets to a minimum of 10% water content and placing the moistened sheet in in press with a pressure of at least 5 tons at a temperature of up to 125° C. and impregnating the pressed material with a mixture of guar gum and natural resins.
17. A cellulosic dry sheet produced by the method of claim 1.
18. The cellulosic dry sheet of claim 14, wherein the thickness of the sheet is between 6 and 20 000 μm.
19. A cellulosic suspension produced by the method of claim 10.
20. The cellulosic suspension of claim 16, suitable to be added as an additive to paper.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0054] As used here, the term “Biomass” is material that is obtained from byproducts of food and agriculture production and/or at least partially decomposed household or industrial biowaste optionally by pressing fluids out of the decomposed waste. Non-limiting examples of waste suitable to be used in the method disclosed here are any kind of food waste, agricultural waste, waste from winery or brewery industries.
[0055] It is generally known that cellulose producing bacteria are efficient in producing cellulose fibers when the growth medium comprises abundant carbon and minimal amounts of nitrogen. Therefore, all the known methods to produce cellulose fibers include growing the bacteria on a glucose medium. Industrial and household waste on the other hand are known to comprise large amounts of nitrogen. Additionally, waste material comprises various metabolites that may not be optimal for bacterial cellulose production. For these reasons, household or industrial waste material has generally not been considered a suitable growth medium for cellulose producing bacteria.
[0056] Surprisingly here, a method has been developed which is suitable for cellulose producing bacteria to grow and produce high yields of bacterial cellulose material. The method is suitable for production of bacterial cellulose by using cellulose producing bacteria alone or in combination with yeast. The method disclosed here does not require isolating the cellulose fibers but biodegradable material can be produced without the isolation process.
[0057] A method is disclosed where biodegradable cellulosic material can be produced in a continuous process by cultivating the bacteria or the bacteria and yeast on pretreated biomass and biodegradable cellulosic sheets are provided suitable for use in making various materials, such as packing material, textiles, etc.
[0058] The invention is now described with reference to the non-limiting drawings and examples appended herein. A method to produce cellulose containing biodegradable materials from household- or industrial bio waste is described here.
[0059] Referring to
[0060] The obtained substantially dry biomass is then mixed with water 1 to 200 g/l, preferably 1 to 100 g/l, more preferably 5-50 g/l. According to certain aspects 10 g of substantially dry biomass is mixed with liter water. The temperature is raised to at least 120° C. for 10 to 150 minutes, more preferably 15 minutes to 2 hours. Preferably the temperature is kept within a range of 90 C-120° C. for at least 15 minutes.
[0061] After the step of heating the water-biomass mixture, this mixture is filtered using filter material (e.g. a mesh) (X1) having holes with size of 0.1-5 mm and more preferably 0.2-2 mm. The resulting filtered primary raw material has particle size of 0.1-5 mm and preferably 0.2-2 mm. The particle size can also be 0.5-1 mm.
[0062] The filtered primary raw material is then directed to one or more vessels A, where the process of mixing the filtered primary raw material with an inoculum 3 comprising cellulose producing bacteria takes place. In the vessel(s) the filtered primary raw material may be supplemented with ammonium salt of sulfuric acid (NH.sub.4) 2SO.sub.4 in an amount of 1-5 g/l of the filtered primary material. The filtered primary material may be supplemented alternatively with calcium 0.005 g/l to 1 g/l, preferably 0.05-0.5 g/l, more preferably 0.1-0.2 g/l. In certain aspects 0.15 g/l of calcium is supplemented to the primary material. Alternatively, or additionally magnesium may be supplemented into the primary material in an amount of 0.007-2 g/l, preferably 0.1-0.5 g/l, most preferably 0.2 g/l of the filtered primary raw material.
[0063] Inoculum of active strains of producing cellulose or strains producing cellulose in symbiosis with yeast is added to the vessel(s) in an amount of 10-50% (w/w), preferably 20-40%, more preferably 25-35% and most preferably 30% of the filtered primary raw material.
[0064] The cellulose producing bacteria may be selected from the group consisting of Acetobacter sp., especially Acetobacter xylinum, Acetobacter hansenii and Acetobacter pasteurianus, Gluconobacter sp, Sarcina sp, Komagataeibacter rhaeticus.
[0065] The yeast source is obtained from wild SCOBY cultures from kombucha fermentation and/or Saccharomyces cerevisiae species.
[0066] Typically, the inoculum comprising cellulose producing bacteria and yeast contain scoby-source alone from kombucha fermentation, or scoby-source and cellulose producing bacteria. The proportion of scoby-source to cellulose producing bacteria can be within a range of 30:1 to 1:1. According to certain aspects the proportion is 29:1; according to some other aspects the proportion is in a range of 5:1 and 1:1. According to certain aspects the proportion is 2:1.
[0067] According to certain aspects the inoculum is a mixture of cellulose producing bacteria and Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast. Most preferably the inoculum comprises more than 50% bacteria populations, thus exceeding the yeast cell population. The bacterial cells may be of one strain or there may be multiple strains in the inoculum. According to certain aspects the inoculum comprises strains of Komagataeibacter rhaeticus and Acetobacter xylinum.
[0068] Again, referring to
[0069] Sugar level of the pH-adjusted solution is measured for example with a refractometer and if below 5% the sugar level is adjusted by adding liquid glucose 6 to reach sugar level of 5-14%, more preferably 5-10% and most preferably 9%.
[0070] The solution having pH and sugar level adjusted is allowed now to ferment in the vessel(s) at a temperature between 22-33° C. for a period of days to several weeks.
[0071] The resulting solution is here called the main mixture 4. The main mixture is now poured into containers B that have a height from 2 to 50 cm preferably 5 cm and it has surface size from 10 cm.sup.2 to 1000 cm.sup.2 preferably 200 cm′. Other dimensions may also be used as long as the height: surface size ratio is between 1:10-1:4.
[0072] Part of the main mixture is left in the one or more vessel(s) A where the temperature is kept between 22-33° C., preferably 27-30° C. for a period not exceeding 30 days. This main mixture portion left in the one or more vessels A can be used as inoculant in a subsequent round, i.e., as inoculant to be mixed with filtered primary raw material in one or more vessels. This way the process may be kept continuous.
[0073] The main mixture in the containers B is incubated at a temperature of 22-33° C., preferably 29° C. At least part of the main mixture in the one or more vessels A is used to be incrementally added to the containers every 3-15 days, preferably every 4 day throughout the incubation period that vary from 3 to 30 days. The added solution may be 1-70% preferably 1-10%, most preferably 5% of the volume of each container.
[0074] At the end of the incubation period a raw material is obtained from the containers by draining the main mixture from the containers preferably through a sieve. The raw material is collected into a collection container C and the drained liquid is directed via a pipe D back to the one or more vessels (A, E) so as to be used as part of inoculum in the next fermentation process.
[0075] The raw material in the collection container C is then cleaned to obtain purified raw material. The cleaning is preferably conducted by adding sodium hydroxide in an amount of 0.1-2% (w/w).
[0076] The purified raw material is treated with glycerin after which the material is dried on a substrate at 25-100° C. preferably 50-70° C.
[0077] According to certain aspects the raw material and/or the purified raw material is blended to obtain a suspension which is spread on the substrate. Glycerin treatment may be made before or after drying.
[0078] According to certain aspects the dried sheets may be grinded to make a suspension.
[0079] The substrate F may be a flat smooth surface preferably made of PVC, plexiglas, or silicone, but other materials are also possible. According to certain aspects the substrate may be a mesh. According to certain aspects the substrate is a textile mesh coated with fluoropolymers, such as polytetrafluoroethylene (Teflon™), however, other coating materials may also be used. The substrate F may be a flat surface. The substrate may have a 3D shape without negative angles. The substrate may comprise holes or protrusions have a diameter maximally of 20 mm, and the holes or protrusions being space at a distance from each other maximally at a distance of 20 mm.
[0080] The glycerin treatment may be by spraying, soaking or adding to suspension. Glycerin may be applied in amount of up to 8%, preferably between 0.2-5%, most preferably 0.5 to 1% of dry mass of cellulose.
[0081] The dried material formed on the substrate is collected and cut into sheets.
[0082] According to certain aspects of the invention, efficiency of the production of bacterial cellulose raw material is between 50-950 g/l of the main mixture.
[0083] According to certain aspects of the invention dry sheet efficiency is between 5-90 g/l of main mixture. On average the dry sheet efficiency is 50 g/l of main mixture.
[0084] The sheets are further subjected to processing to produce various useful materials, for example disposable vessels, sachets, textiles, packaging materials etc. These materials can further be used to make other products, such as pots, bags, biofiltration material.
[0085] In reference to
[0086] In reference to
[0087] In reference to
[0088] In reference to
[0089] In reference to
[0090] According to the method of this invention, the use of biomass is a response to the increasing pollution of the natural environment. Moreover, it is an alternative to the production of plastic products, all the more that the utility materials made of it are not inferior to their durability, visual qualities, and usability than objects made of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials. Notably, the processed biomass is also characterized by purity, mechanical strength, the ability to absorb liquids, biocompatibility with living tissue, flexibility, and the ability to immobilize various substances with bioactive properties.
[0091] Typically, the sheets obtained by the method described here are translucent to transparent and with higher opacity when thickness is higher than 0.5 mm. The sheet's flexibility varies from very flexible to stiff, similarly to the flexibility of paper depending on the thickness and glycerin concentration or manufacturing methods—drying on substrate or pressing. Dry sheets in a form of foil are characterized by thickness from 6 to 1000 μm, preferably 50-200 μm, more preferably 50-150 μm. In certain aspects thickness of 100-125 μm is preferable. In certain aspects when forming artificial leather, the thickness of the dry sheets may be 300-20000 μm. Strength from of the sheets can be 0.5 MPA to 220 MPA, but not limited to this but depends on thickness, glycerin soaking parameters, manufacture method, suspension particle size. The dry sheets have a very high air barrier property which is a main advantage for usage of the dry sheets as a packaging material.
[0092] The method of producing sheets resulting from the fermentation of biomass, intended for the production of utility materials, will be used in industrial production. The invention is an effective alternative to the existing technologies to produce utility materials with similar applications, especially single-use, made of plastics, textiles, decorative materials, and others, as a coating specifically for paper or bioplastics or additive to other materials, specifically paper but not limited to it.
[0093] The invention is now described by way of non-limiting examples:
[0094] Example 1. Yield of the raw material is affected by the source of the waste source, pH, and additives.
[0095] Table 1 illustrates wet mass and dry mass yield of the raw material with different starting material and variables. The inoculum used in all these experiments was 10% of Komagataeibacter rhaeticus.
TABLE-US-00001 Red 10 100 ml — 8 6.3 10 ml 11.856 1.098 beetroot Coffee 10 100 ml — 8 6.3 10 ml 10.760 1.053 husk Apple 10 100 ml — 8 6.3 10 ml 10.006 1.004 waste Apple 10 100 ml 0.015 g 8 6.3 10 ml 19.303 1.951 waste CaCl2 Apple 10 100 ml — 8 4 10 ml 24.896 2.263 waste
[0096] Example 2 Pilot scale experiment produced in 4 fermentation batches 4200 kg of raw material per 4500 l of medium
[0097] A pilot scale experiment was conducted in a continuous process according to this invention. The experiment included 4 batches of fermentation and the total yield of raw material at the end of the experiment was 4200 kg, while the total amount of mixture in the containers was 4500 l. The inoculum used in this experiment was mix of a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast.
[0098] Ist Batch
[0099] Medium 1000 L/Ino 500 L=1000 containers 1.5 L
[0100] Harvest per container: 4 days, weight: ˜500 g/1.5 L
[0101] 1000 containers/1500 L/Weight total 500 kg
[0102] Leftover fluid ˜1000 L
[0103] Cost 1500 L waste based medium
[0104] Product harvested: 500 kg raw material
[0105] II Batch
[0106] Reused fluid ˜500 L+1000 L fresh medium
[0107] Additive 400 L to 1000 Containers after 4 days, 1.9 L in container
[0108] Harvest per container 8 days
[0109] 1000 containers/1900 L/Weight total ˜1000 kg
[0110] Leftover fluid ˜1000 L
[0111] Cost: 1000 L waste based medium
[0112] Product harvested: 1000 kg raw material
[0113] Batch 3
[0114] Reused fluid ˜500 L+1000 L fresh medium
[0115] Additive 400 L to 1000 Containers after 4 days, 1.9 L in container
[0116] Harvest per container 8 days
[0117] 1000 containers/1900 L/Weight total ˜1300 kg
[0118] Leftover fluid ˜700 L
[0119] Cost: 1000 L waste based medium
[0120] Product harvested: 1300 kg raw material
[0121] Batch 4
[0122] Reused fluid ˜500 L+1000 L fresh medium
[0123] Additive 300 L to 1000 Containers after 4 days, 1.8 L in container
[0124] Harvest per container 8 days
[0125] 1000 containers/1800 L/Weight total ˜1500 kg
[0126] Discarded fluid ˜300 L
[0127] Cost: 1000 L waste based medium
[0128] Product harvested: 1500 kg raw material
[0129] After batch 4 the process continues or starts from the beginning.
[0130] Total cost in 4 batches: 4500 L medium
[0131] Total Product harvested in 4 batches: 4200 kg of raw material
[0132] Example 3 illustrates the method as shown in
[0133] As shown in
[0134]
[0135] Example 4 illustrates the method to make disposable vessels as shown in
[0136] As indicated in
[0137] Example 5 illustrates the method to make sachets as shown in
[0138]
[0139] Example 6 illustrates the method to make artificial leather as shown in
[0140]
[0141] Example 7. Sheet suspension-additive product for flexible materials composites
[0142] Preliminary raw material is blended for 5 min, there is an option that water is added to allow blending of dry sheets into suspension from 0.1 to 10% of fiber content. The blended preliminary raw material is cleaned with 1% NAOH solution for 60 min in 60° C. The suspension is later rinsed with water to obtain neutral pH. This suspension is blended again to avoid uneven particles in suspension. The suspension is ready to be added in the paper making process, as a coating for bioplastics and ingredients to other materials but not limited to it.
[0143] Reference Example 8 Material sheets method from slurry
[0144] The suspension was prepared like in reference example 7.
[0145] Suspension is divided on half to conduct two drying methods
[0146] Suspension is spread by roller, casting knife or spray nozzles on Teflon coated substrate and 2 mm thickness sheet was formed from them and subjected to various drying methods—on a heating plate at 55 degrees and a dryer. After drying the formed dried sheets are separated from substrate and cut.
[0147] Example 9 Using suspension of this invention as paper additive.
[0148] The table 2 below shows how the suspension when added into paper pulp containing softwood and hardwood in relation of 20:80 notably decreases air permeability. The suspension was made as in example 7 above. Either 5 or 10% or the suspension was added to paper pulp. Air permeability increased markedly. With these characteristics the pulp is an excellent additive in paper making process especially when making paper for food preservation.
TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 long(soft- Suspension wood):short from sheets (hardwood) = described in Thick- Air 20:80 invention ness Grammage permability 100% 0% 125.1 80.3 1280 μm g/m2 mL/min 95% 5% 121.4 79.7 220 90% 10% 117.6 80.0 110
[0149] Reference Example 10 Inoculum characterization
[0150] Preferably inoculum is characterized by containing SCOBY(Symbiotic culture of bacteria of Yeast) or SCOBY and KR in proportion 29:1, 25:5, 1:1 preferably 25:5 or mix of cellulosic bacteria like Komagataeibacter rhaeticus and or Komagataeibacter xylinus and Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeasts, with bacteria cells exceeding yeast cells (population higher than 50%).