Progress 06/01/15 to 01/31/17
Outputs
Target Audience:Target Audiences: Ecovia has focused this project on developing our biopolymer hydrogel material as a soil and growing media amendment to improve water retention. Correspondingly, the target audiences include greenhouse/horticulture industry, landscaping design and installation professionals, seed products and coatings stakeholders, and small / high-value crop farms (particularly short cycle crops, such as microgreens); specific geographies of interestinclude areas of drought and low/restricted water availabilityfor agriculture/horticulture. Efforts: Although not directly funded by USDA-NIFA, Ecovia has been running a small scale marketing / business development campaignto increase awareness of our technology (and water retaining hydrogel materials in general) and starting building relationships with potential customers. Efforts have included customer/stakeholder outreach meetings and interviews, and development of a web interface, customer relationship database, product fact sheets, and product demonstration videos. As of the submission date of this report, we have shipped biopolymer hydrogel product samples to a seed products company (to develop hydrogel-based seeding products), and are currently planning a field trial with a microgreens grower to evaluate performance and water retention benefits (ie reduced number of watering cycles) of our biopolymer hydrogel in growing media for microgreens crops Changes/Problems:Major change to project: narrowed focus of Obejctive 2 to agricultural/horticultural applications Explanation/Justification.This project originally proposed to examine the properties of new biopolymer hydrogels for both agriculture/horticulture and personal care applications, such as diapers. However, Ecovia quickly discovered that these two areas (agriculture/horticulture vs. personal care) are divergent applications which require a different sets of material properties and performance metrics. For example, ionic composition of the soil environment vs. bodily fluids are quite different, necessitating different cross-linking chemistries and densities to achieve optimal swelling in these different matrices. Furthermore, required material properties differ for these applications; in hygiene applications, purity, ability to absorb bodily fluids under external pressure, absorption rate, and low matric potential slope (ie ability to tightly lock up fluids) are crucial (often necessitating SAP particle surface treatments to achieve these properties), while for agriculture/horticultural applications free absorbency (ie net soil mositure capacity) and high matric potential slope (ie reversible water release to plant roots) are key. After careful consideration, Ecovia elected to focus project efforts on developing our material for agriculture/horticulture applications due to the following reasons: Lower purity/color requirements The high impurity loads (trace metal salts, organic residues, etc) in biomass residue feedstocks make it difficult to achieve required purity and color levels for personal care; in contrast these same impurities do not have a detrimental effect for agricultural/horticulture applications, and may even provide minor fertilization benefits Higher price points compared to diaper market (especially for specialty crop / high value horticulture applications) Good performance advantages (vs incumbent superabsorbents), as demonstrated with Objective 2 results Better alignment with USDA-NIFA priorities Ecovia discussed this change of focus with NPL William Goldner on October 27, 2015, who gave verbal approval of the request. Since this time, Ecovia has not further pursued process/product development for personal care applications under this project. However, we have resumed work on personal care applications through a project pivot in our NSF STTR Phase I award (1448990), and have submitted an NSF SBIR Phase II proposal to continue developing and scaling-up high-purity biopolymer hydrogels tailored to material/performance needs for personal care markets. Both NSF and USDA-NIFA have been informed of these project changes. Other changes/problems: narrowed feedstock focus to waste glycerol from biodiesel production. Explanation/Justification.Originally, this project proposed to utilize low value bioprocessing residues from beet sugar, beet biofuels, and cellulosic biofuels as a fermentation feedstock for biopolymer production. While these feedstocks were able to support growth of our biopolymer producing microbes, they were unable to support biopolymer production with reasonable titer or yield. Work was undertaken to identify the most favorable C/N sources for biopolymer producing microbial isolates, and glycerol was identified as a highly favorable C source for biopolymer production in several strains. Thus further work was focused on developing biopolymer fermentations using waste glycerol from biodiesel production as a feedstock, and Ecovia succeeded in demonstrating that the new biopolymer producing microbial strains isolated in this project were capable of biopolymer production on minimal media with lightly pre-treated(80% pure, methanol removed) waste glycerol; near the end of the project, waste glycerol pre-treated via ion-exchange (a scalable, low-cost process) was shown to be even more amenable to fermentation, and will likely result in higher quality biopolymer products due to salt removal. Although waste glycerol was not given in the original scope of the project, it still meets the overall project goals of producing biopolymer products from low-value bioprocessing residues, co-integration with biofuel (ie biodiesel)production to enhance process economics, and supporting emerging industrial crops (ie biodiesel production from new oil seed crops). What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?While training/professional development was not primary goal of this SBIR Phase I project, over the reporting period Ecovia hired a student intern, as well as two new graduates to full-time positions, who have received one-on-one mentoring and training from the PI. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Ecovia has been working to increase awareness of the potential benefits of superabsorbents for agricultural/horticultural applications (both in general and for our specific product) in stakeholder communities, including smaller farmers and greenhouse growers. While not a primary aim of this research project, results have disseminated in the following ways: Direct outreach calls / interviews Development of a web interface Development of fact sheets / white papers that have been distributed in public outreach efforts Development of product demonstration videos Product trials are currently schedule with a seeding products company and a small microgreens grower What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
IMPACT. During this SBIR Phase Iproject, significant progress was made towards developing a novel process to convert low value bioprocessing residues to a new material that can improve soil moisture retention for agriculture and horticulture. The final resultssuggest that the biopolymer gel material developed by Ecovia under this project offers significantly improved soil moisture retention benefits compared to conventional water retaining materials. When fully commercialized, this material can provide benefits to the agriculture and horticulture industries by reducing irrigation frequency, and will create new markets for low value bioprocessing residues, aiding further development of the bioeconomy. Accomplishments Summary: Objective 1. Develop and characterize bench-scale proof-of-concept process prototypes for producing biopolymer-based SAPs from by-products of beet sugar, beet biofuels, and cellulosic biofuels. Developed new selection method for screening environmental samples for high-performing biopolymer producing microbial strains for mixed culture biopolymer production, with high growth/production on actual feedstocks (vs. rich lab media used in prior screening studies) Developed library of new high performing microbialisolates (with preliminary 16S sequencing for species identification) and characterizedbiopolymer production performance (titer, yield, and productivity) During the course of experimental fermentation studies in this project, the originally proposed bioprocessing residues were foundto be unsuitable for biopolymer fermentation (although they did support growth of the biopolymer producing microbial isolates). In other work, Ecovia identified waste glycerol from biodiesel production as a promising feedstock; therefore the remainder of experimental fermentation and biopolymer production work was done with this feedstock, which still meets the overall project goal of producing superabsorbent biopolymer materials from a low-cost bioprocessing residues from biofuel production. Developed library of biopolymer cross-linking chemistries (to produce final water-retaining hydrogel material) and screened basic absorbency properties; top performing chemistries were identified and scaled-up for objective 2 work. Identified key contaminants in feedstocks that inhibit biopolymer cross-linking; this datawill inform future efforts to develop a targeted and cost-effective purification process for the scaled-up biopolymer fermentation process. Objective 2. Validate basic commercial viability by demonstrating the technoeconomic feasibility of biopolymer-based SAP production and benchmark biopolymer SAP performance in end applications. Process model and technoeconomic analysis for biopolymer production process (co-integrated with biodiesel production) were completed. The Phase I cost analysis suggests that production cost will be highly competitive with incumbent polyacrylate and starch based superabsorbents, provided that a targeted and cost-effective purification process can be developed. Top performing hydrogel materials from Objective 1 were scaled up (~50 grams per batch), and absorbency benchmarking testing relevant to agricultural and horticultural applications has been conducted, including free-absorbency (in synthetic soil solution), absorbency under pressure (AUP; 0.3 psi; synthetic soil solution), improvement in soil moisture capacity (with 0.5% w/w material loading), soil matric potential measurement vs. % moisture. These first results are very promising, suggesting that Ecovia's new material offers up 20% higher AUP and up to 250% improvement in soil moisture capacity compared to conventional polyacrylate superabsorbents. In addition to the basic benchmarking testingdecribed above, Ecovia has completed in-house testing thatvalidates the biodegradability of the cross-linked biopolymer hydrogel material, and has also completed in vivowater retention and water stress studies in an unirrigated short-cycle crop of Brassica sp.microgreens, demonstrating improved crop health and harvest yield. Ecovia has provided biopolymer samples to a seeding products company (for evaluation and developmentof biodegradable hydrogel seeding products which promote water retention and hydration during germination), and has scheduled a field trial with a microgreens grower to evaluate biopolymer water retention performance under actual field conditions (with MTA/CDA under negotiation).
Publications
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Progress 06/01/15 to 05/31/16
Outputs
Target Audience:Target audiences: Ecovia has focused on developing our biopolymer hydrogel material as a soil amendment to improve water retention during this reporting period. Correspondingly, the target audiences include greenhouse/horticulture industry, landscaping design and installation professionals, and small / high-value crop farms; specific geographies include areas of drought and low/restricted water availability for agriculture/horticulture. Efforts: Ecovia has started a marketing / business development push to increase awareness of our technology (and water retaining hydrogel materials in general) and starting building relationships with potential customers. Efforts have included customer/stakeholder outreach meetings and interviews, and development of a web interface, customer relationship database, product fact sheets, and product demonstration videos. Changes/Problems:Major change to project: narrowed focus of Obejctive 2 to agricultural/horticultural applications Explanation/Justification: This project originally proposed to examine the properties of new biopolymer hydrogels for both agriculture/horticulture and personal care applications, such as diapers. However, Ecovia quickly discovered that these two areas (agriculture/horticulture vs. personal care) are divergent applications which require a different sets of material properties and performance metrics. For example, ionic composition of the soil environment vs. bodily fluids are quite different, necessitating different cross-linking chemistries and densities to achieve optimal swelling in these different matrices. Furthermore, required material properties differ for these applications; in hygiene applications, purity, ability to absorb bodily fluids under external pressure, absorption rate, and low matric potential slope (ie ability to tightly lock up fluids) are crucial (often necessitating SAP particle surface treatments to achieve these properties), while for agriculture/horticultural applications free absorbency (ie net soil mositure capacity) and high matric potential slope (ie reversible water release to plant roots) are key. After careful consideration, Ecovia elected to focus project efforts on developing our material for agriculture/horticulture applications due to the following reasons: Lower purity/color requirements The high impurity loads (trace metal salts, organic residues, etc) in biomas residue feedstocks make it difficult to achieve required purity and color levels for personal care; in contrast these same impurities do not have a detrimental effect for agricultural/horticulture applications, and may even provide minor fertilization benefits Higher price points compared to diaper market (especially for specialty crop / high value horticulture applications) Good performance advantage (vs incumbent superabsorbents) has already been reached in Objective 2 results Better alignment with USDA-NIFA priorities Ecovia discussed this change of focus with NPL William Goldner on October 27, 2015, who gave verbal approval of the request. Since this time, Ecovia has not further pursued process/product development for personal care applications under this project. However, we have resumed work on personal care applications through a project pivot in our NSF STTR Phase I award (1448990), and have submitted an NSF SBIR Phase II proposal to continue developing and scaling-up high-purity biopolymer hydrogels tailored to material/performance needs for personal care markets. Both NSF and USDA-NIFA have been informed of these project changes. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?While training/professional development was not primary goal of this SBIR Phase I project, over the reporting period Ecovia hired a student intern, as well as two new graduates to full-time positions, who have received one-on-one mentoring and training from the PI. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Ecovia has been working to increase awareness of the potential benefits of superabsorbents for agricultural/horticultural applications (both in general and for our specific product) in stakeholder communities, including smaller farmers and greenhouse growers. While not a primary aim of this research project, results have disseminated in the following ways: Direct outreach calls / interviews Development of a web interface Development of fact sheets / white papers that have been distributed in public outreach efforts Development of product demonstration videos What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Work to be completed: Objective 1. Develop and characterize bench-scale proof-of-concept process prototypes for producing biopolymer-based SAPs from by-products of beet sugar, beet biofuels, and cellulosic biofuels. Implement mixed cultures (using newly isolated strains) on actual biomass feedstocks (by-products of beet sugar, beet biofuels, and cellulosic biofuels, in mixture with waste glycerol from biodiesel production) Previous efforts were largely focused on demonstration POC on model lab media Need to debug issues related to purification / cross-linking The cross-linking chemistries with the best absorbency performance are inhbited by contaminants found in crude-biomass feedstocks; studies are underway to identify specific inhbitory contaminants and develop low-cost, selective purification schemes to remove problematic contaminants An alternative route of screening additional cross-linking chemistries that are more robust with crude biopolymer fermentation products is also being pursued. Rapid biopolymer hydrogel degradation was identified as an issue in preliminary in-vivo testing (plant growth / soil studies) Currently working to identify mechanisms of degradation and improve stability so product has acceptable field-life Objective 2. Validate basic commercial viability by demonstrating the technoeconomic feasibility of biopolymer-based SAP production and benchmark biopolymer SAP performance in end applications. Complete process modeling and deliver final TEA Scaled up to 500 g to 1000 g batches for larger scale testing/evaluation Complete in-house and customer/field testing (short term plant growth studies, for seed germination and seedling propagation; longer term studies, like full season performance, will be pursued in Phase II work)
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
IMPACT. During this reporting period, significant progress was made towards developing a novel process to convert low value bioprocessing residues to a new material that can improve soil moisture retention for agriculture and horticulture. Preliminary results suggest that the biopolymer gel material developed by Ecovia under this project offers significantly improved soil moisture retention compared to conventional water retaining materials. When fully commercialized, this material can provide benefits to the agriculture and horticulture industries by reducing irrigation frequency, and will create new markets for low value bioprocessing residues, aiding further development of the bioeconomy. Accomplishments Summary: Objective 1. Develop and characterize bench-scale proof-of-concept process prototypes for producing biopolymer-based SAPs from by-products of beet sugar, beet biofuels, and cellulosic biofuels. Developed new selection method for screening environmental samples for high-performing microbial strains for mixed culture biopolymer production with good growth/production on actual feedstocks (vs. lab media) Currently building strain library of new isolates (with preliminary 16S sequencing for species identification) and characterizing performance (titer, yield, and productivity) In other work, waste glycerol was identified as a promising C source for the biopolymer fermentation process, and is being screening in mixtures of the original target feedstock stream (by-products of beet sugar, beet biofuels, and cellulosic biofuels). Developed library of biopolymer cross-linking chemistries (to produce final water-retaining hydrogel material) and screened basic absorbency properties; top performing chemistries have been identified and scaled-up for objective 2 work. Objective 2. Validate basic commercial viability by demonstrating the technoeconomic feasibility of biopolymer-based SAP production and benchmark biopolymer SAP performance in end applications. Process model and TEA for biopolymer production process are nearly completed; work underway to co-integrate into process models for biofuel production to assess co-production of fuels and biopolymer side-products. Preliminary cost analysis suggests that production cost will be in the range of $0.90 to $1.40 per kg material, making it highly competitive with incumbent polyacrylate and starch based superabsorbents. Top performing hydrogel materials from Objective 1 have been scaled up (~50 grams per batch), and absorbency performance testing relevant to agricultural and horticultural applications has been conducted, including free-absorbency (in synthetic soil solution), absorbency under pressure (AUP; 0.3 psi; synthetic soil solution), improvement in soil moisture capacity (with 0.5% w/w material loading), and soil matric potential measurement vs. % moisture. These first results are very promising, suggesting that Ecovia's new material offers up 20% higher AUP and up to 250% improvement in soil moisture capacity compared to conventional polyacrylate superabsorbents. Work is currently underway to produce large batches for short-timeframe customer/field testing trials (eg greenhouse propagation, seed coatings, etc)
Publications
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