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Transcript
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