Download Biodegradable Plastic

Biodegradable Plastic:
Poly(β-Hydroxybutyrate)
Team 16
Mike Hall
Laura Hamilton
Dave Janke
Briley Lambert
Why would someone want to
make biodegradable plastics?
• Good Stewardship
• Reduced landfill space
• Sustainability
• To make money
• People will buy it
• We hope to show PHB can be produced in a
commercially viable way
Previous Bio-Plastics
• Other Bioplastics
• Isolated from genetically modified plants, notably corn
• Grown by bacteria in bioreactor factories from sugars.
Several problems:
– Cost more to make than traditional plastics.
– Burns more fossil fuels to make them than traditional plastics
made directly from oil do.
• Poly(β-Hydroxybutyrate)
• Naturally occurring in bacteria
• Currently made via a fermentation process
• Not economically viable for large scale
The Chemistry
• This chemistry was developed by researchers at Cornell University
• Reactants: epoxide and carbon monoxide
– Commercially available and cheap
– Toxic: possible environmental & safety concerns
• Using these new catalysts the processes are fast and efficient
Objectives:
• In-depth design of a
pilot plant.
• Preliminary design of
a full size plant
Elements of Chemical Reaction Engineering, Fogler, ©1999
• Economic feasibility
study