[DIYbio] Fwd: Open source bioplastic 2012 update

From: eric poliner <polinere@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, Dec 31, 2012 at 12:18 PM
Subject: Open source bioplastic 2012 update
To: Marcin Jakubowski <joseph.dolittle@gmail.com>,
marcin@opensourceecology.org, Joshua Pearce <pearce@mtu.edu>, Jerry
Anzalone <gcanzalo@mtu.edu>, Catarina Mota <catarinamfmota@gmail.com>,
Kerem Bora <kerembora@sabanciuniv.edu>, Jordan Miller
<jmil@hive76.org>, kanzure@gmail.com, cfharr@gmail.com


Hello,

I wanted to provide a year end update on the status of the OSE open
source bioplastic production project to all interested parties.

Overview:
Over past year the open source bioplastic production project has been
focused on collecting background information, proposing preliminary
approaches, and developing collaborations. Polylactic acid,
polyethylene, cellulose acetate, and moldable mycelium are four
different and complementary bioplastics under research and
development. A biorefinery approach to create multiple bioplastics
from a single feedstock has been proposed and appears feasible and in
line with the OSE guidelines. Collaborations with Dr Bora of Sabanci
University and Dr Pearce of Michigan Technological University are
strengthening the project and may allow material progress in the
coming year. A collaboration to produce polylactic acid with Michigan
Tech's Open Sustainability Technology Research Group led by Dr Pearce
will hopefully be the first project to be implemented.

Specific Objectives for 2013:
The primary objective for 2013 is to demonstrate polylactic acid
production over the summer in the laboratory of Dr Pearce. Polylactic
acid is a plastic of moderate complexity, compatible with 3D printing
and other fabrication techniques, and could demonstrate a significant
OS advancement. A production process that produces lactic acid by
microbial fermentation from agricultural waste, refinement to pure
lactic acid with cell and feedstock recycle by membrane separation,
and polymerization by catalytic dehydration is believed to be the most
feasible and efficient route for sustainable localized PLA production.
The proposed approach is believed to be able to eliminate the major
energy consuming step of feedstock sterilization while avoiding
contamination, by using a bacteria (Bacillus coagulans) that grows at
a temperature higher than most other bacteria. Purification of lactic
acid from the fermentation broth through size and charge selective
membranes which will allow continuous fermentation and purification of
pure lactic acid without salt waste. Polymerization via a condensation
reaction which will be conducted under a vacuum with an efficient
catalyst of tin chloride and p-toluenesulfonic acid. Developing the
necessary skills and hardware will take interdisciplinary knowledge
and collaborations but there appears to be the necessary willing
participants. The OSE wiki and appropedia wiki will be used to
coordinate the project demonstrating a new approach to distributed
applied science and open source development of highly technical
production methods. A PLA project worklog has been started to to track
and facilitate project progress.

Broader Impacts:
Creation of OS polylactic acid will demonstrate the productive power
of the open source approach to material progress and incorporate
"green chemistry" into the open source toolkit. Through polylactic
acid it is hoped that open source high-tech modular research/small
scale industrial hardware can be built and its use demonstrated in a
research and enterprise setting. With open source knowledge and
guidance of fermentor, purification, and chemical reactor technology a
new frontier of chemical engineering will be accessible to
experimenters and entrepreneurs. Furthermore, project participants are
interested in developing open source enterprise plans to sell and
profitably develop open source hardware, as well as an OS biorefinery
approaches to production of biofuels and biomaterials.

Future Directions:
Development of open source polylactic acid production will be followed
by refinement of other polymers. Other polymers will require a more
robust chemical reactor but a modular approach to hardware design
should facilitate flexible hardware that can be configured for any
variety of chemical reactions. With multiple polymers available in the
open source sphere copolymers (polylactic acid cellulose acetate,
polethylene vinyl acetate, cellulose acetate polyvinyl difluoride,
etc) can be created for a wide variety applications. This could
represent a significant economic impact that would allow
transformation of low value biomass to high value and high utility
materials and products in a localized market.

Thank you for your support over the last year, and I look forward to
continued progress next year,

Eric


--
- Bryan
http://heybryan.org/
1 512 203 0507

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