Concept & Objectives
The production of Fatty Amines (FAs) plays a crucial role in numerous industries, including cosmetics, coatings, detergents, and agriculture, amongst others. The global market demand for FAs has been steadily growing, however the
conventional production method for FAs has several limitations and environmental concerns, leading to the need for more sustainable alternatives.
FLEXIZYME’s interdisciplinary and systemic innovation approach aims to develop (to TRL5) a versatile, flexible and cost efficient biotechnological platform for primary FAs production from fat-rich and protein-rich feedstocks. This platform will design and utilise advanced enzymes using advanced bioinformatic tools and artificial intelligence (AI) to optimise processes, innovative reactor monitoring systems, and address scalability challenges and process integration, contributing to a greener and more sustainable future for FA commercial production.
FLEXIZYME aims at contributing to the transition towards environment-friendly biotechnological industrial processes for the obtainment of an array of cost-competitive bio-based products through resource-efficient, circular valorisation of sustainable by-products.
This goal will be achieved by developing a robust and flexible platform, tackling the current limitation of industrial biotechnology by applying a holistic approach targeting upstream, midstream, and downstream, incorporating vanguard technologies, biocatalyst engineering, reactor and process design, control and optimisation, under an interdisciplinary and systemic innovation approach.
The project’s specific objectives are:
- Develop a flexible biotechnological platform for sustainable fatty amines(FA) production from side streams, enhancing efficiency, scalability, and cost effectiveness.
- Engineer enzymes to overcome industrial limitations, integrate real-time monitoring for enzymatic synthesis, and address scaling challenges.
- Validate the platform in cosmetic, detergent, and agricultural sectors, and assess economic and environmental performance through TEA and LCA.
- Promote interdisciplinary collaboration and dissemination to drive innovation in biotechnology.
