Something for Everybody - What is the real truth about the "bio-based economy"? How close are developments for the renewable energy, food, animal feed, fine and bulk chemical, textile, printing, machinery manufacturing and IT industries to market introduction? These are some of the questions that will be addressed at the BioBasedWorld at ACHEMA 2012 June 18-22 in Frankfurt.

Intelligent Devices and Process Technologies

Forced to deal with commodity market volatility, non-payment risks, financial crises, new trade barriers in agricultural and food markets and regulatory conflicts relating to genetically modified plants, companies are noticeably reluctant to abandon reliable sources of raw materials, replace equipment that works reliably, modify production processes to handle new materials or build new systems from scratch based on new technologies.
Investment - yes, technology revolution - no; me-too products - no, something new - yes, say the decision makers.

As a result, the preference is for components, modules, process solutions and systems that can accommodate different raw materials to produce the same end product and which are suitable for small test series. The expectations of what biotechnology should deliver are high:

• Zero waste, utilization of byproducts
• Ability to process heterogeneous raw materials and input chemicals to produce the same end products
• Changeover during production of multiple products without interruption
• Utilization of existing infrastructure

There have been few biotech solutions outside of the pharmaceutical industry that have proven to be affordable and have met expectations on a large scale. Why? The products are generally precursors and intermediates made of biological material that is subject to variation. They are seldom of the "off-the-shelf" variety, and it takes additional expertise to produce a saleable (end) product.

In addition, biotech process systems are also not plug and play at this stage. Customer-specific modifications are always necessary, and customers must have the confidence that after-sales service will provide dependable support and will not increase prices after the fact.

Multiple-Technology Platforms

Combination of multiple technology platforms has gained momentum in recent years. Autonomous machine control, intelligent measurement and control technology, modular extraction, separation and cooling systems and miniaturized fractionation and synthesis machines bring biotech applications to the point where they are suitable for industrial use.

Non-proprietary interfaces that provide connectivity to customer systems are becoming more common on automated lab equipment. Among other things, this gives users greater freedom of choice in the selection of reagents. Sensors with autoclavable electrodes which support mobile data acquisition for specific process parameters are now available for fermenters.

New differential pH sensors in combination with specialized buffer gels (e.g. maleic acid and diallylamine) eliminate the disadvantages of standard reference, opening the door to real time pH detection under variable temperature conditions.

Rapid advances are also being made in the development of separators that facilitate the lucrative (and climate friendly) utilization of by-products. In the autumn, a large algae production plant went into operation in China. Scrubbed flue gas from a coal-fired power station is fed to the algae. The algae plant is capable of capturing up to 2,500 kg of CO₂ per day in the form of biomass.

The algae absorb the carbon dioxide and metabolize it into substances such as fat and carbohydrates. Special separators harvest the algae and concentrate the biomass. The process generates additional value-add from gas emissions through the sale of valuable protein to the animal feed industry. In this instance and in many others, the combination of mechanical engineering, electronics, IT and biotechnology makes it possible to optimize existing production processes and generate profitable by-products.

The plant engineering industry is also exploiting new opportunities. So far, output cost optimization and modernization of old production assets play a bigger role than the construction of new biorefineries. Bioethanol and vegetable oil added to fossil fuel are only the beginning in the petrochemical industry. They are mostly still made from agricultural crops. There is a public consensus however that competition with food production must be avoided. Next-generation biofuels will be made from wood, straw, food residue and plant or animal industrial waste rather than food products. A number of pilot plants are already in operation.

The chemical industry is also getting ready to produce platform chemicals such as glycerin or starch from agricultural feed-stock. To do that, it will need components, equipment and process systems that offer production flexibility and are designed to adapt to varying types of feedstock without putting overall operations at risk. Reducing the logistics costs (which can be considerable) is another deliverable for plant engineering.

Oil and biomass will be used to fire power stations in either parallel or alternating mode. Supplemental combustion or gasification of vegetable oil or ethanol at the site of an existing oil refinery or power station is an approach that is still in its infancy. Braskem is showing the way. Parallel production of up to 200,000 MT of ethylene and polyethylene resin from cane sugar ethanol started up in the autumn of 2010. The production line was built right next to an existing petrochemical plant, and it uses the plant's polymerization infrastructure.

Organic hydrocarbons are still cheaper on the world market than bio-based materials. However, the price differential com-pared to renewables is narrowing.

Impetus in the Chemical Analysis Market

Whatever role biotechnology may play, decentralization of the value-added chain is a fact of life in the power generation, food, animal feed, fine chemicals and clean technologies sector. Processing plants are moving closer to their raw material suppliers and customers. Global players now operate similar to regional suppliers by creating specific product lines. Regional suppliers on the other hand buy the same ingredients, additives and production assets as the large corporations. As a result, value-add is becoming increasingly complex, and companies have to manage greater procurement and delivery risks.

The deck is being reshuffled, cutting across existing supply chains and national and industry boundaries. In a world of globalized economic relationships, we will be seeing the inexorable advance of biotech methodologies and process techniques which are cost-efficient and create products that offer greater value-add.

Of course the market does not simply soak up innovation. Technology suppliers should not assume that what they have to offer is self-explanatory. They have to work to acquire and retain customers. Potential customers on the other hand who expect the sales force to show up at the door with innovation in hand have already lost the battle.