Techno-economic analysis of biocatalytic processes for production of alkene expoxides

Journal Article · Mon Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 2007 · Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-007-9070-2· OSTI ID:931939

Borole, Abhijeet P ^[1]

---

1. ORNL

A techno-economic analysis of two different bioprocesses was conducted, one for the conversion of propylene to propylene oxide (PO) and other for conversion of styrene to styrene expoxide (SO). The first process was a lipase-mediated chemo-enzymatic reaction, whereas the second one was a one-step enzymatic process using chloroperoxidase. The PO produced through the chemo-enzymatic process is a racemic product, whereas the latter process (based on chloroperoxidase) produces an enantio-pure product. The former process thus falls under the category of high-volume commodity chemical (PO); whereas the latter is a low-volume, high-value product (SO).A simulation of the process was conducted using the bioprocess engineering software SuperPro Designer v6.0 (Intelligen, Inc., Scotch Plains, NJ) to determine the economic feasibility of the process. The purpose of the exercise was to compare biocatalytic processes with existing chemical processes for production of alkene expoxides. The results show that further improvements are needed in improving biocatalyst stability to make these bioprocesses competitive with chemical processes.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)
• Sponsoring Organization: ORNL work for others
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 931939
• Journal Information: Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Journal Name: Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology Vol. 137; ISSN 0273-2289; ISSN ABIBDL
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
ALKENES
Alkene epoxidation
BIOSYNTHESIS
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
ECONOMICS
EPOXIDES
OXIDATION
PROPYLENE
STYRENE