ROBUST - Development of a robust microbial fermentation process for the sustainable production of ethyl acetate
Microbial processes have so far played virtually no industrial role in the production of bulk chemicals—and the electrification of transportation is putting pressure on the ethanol-based industry in Germany and Brazil. This is precisely where the research project comes in: The yeast Kluyveromyces marxianus produces the environmentally friendly solvent ethyl acetate in high yields and under non-sterile conditions from waste materials from the dairy industry.
Since ethyl acetate is highly volatile, it leaves the fermentation medium via the exhaust air and can be easily condensed. The project aims to optimize ethyl acetate production using Brazilian feedstocks (sugarcane molasses, bagasse hydrolysate) and German feedstocks (C5 sugars from the wood hydrolysate of the UPM biorefinery in Leuna). The goals are high space-time yields and long-term stable, non-sterile fermentations.
The project is being carried out in collaboration with Prof. Dr. Aljoscha Wahl of Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg and Prof. Dr. Thiago Basso of the University of São Paulo.
Project Leader:
© Ritz
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Thomas Walther
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Collaborators:
Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin
NameMs Paula Klein Dipl.-Ing.
Bioprozesstechnik
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Project Duration:
April 1, 2026 – March 31, 2029