Progress 09/01/17 to 02/29/20
Outputs
Target Audience:Target Audiences for the project include: Barley growers. Growers have a continuing interest in results of the project and potential increased demand for barley. Potential for contracting to grow specific barley varieties is of particular interest to growers as an additional market. Potential customers. The aquaculture industry has shown strong interest in the barley protein concentrate as a protein ingredient in aquaculture feeds especially for trout and salmon. Aquaculture feed producers will have an interest in results of the project affecting barley protein concentrate price and long-term availability. New customers for co-products will be an audience for cost of different products and potential advantages in "green" or "sustainable" sources of supply. MBAI is in discussions with companies which supply ingredients to multiple end users. Financial institutions, Industry. Commercial development of barley protein and co-products requires financing for a commercial scale production facility. Financial audience for economics of BPC and co-products will include potential equity investors, corporate partners, and lending institutions. Economic development agencies. Federal, state and local economic development agencies have an interest in the project results. Such agencies may provide financial or other support for a commercial project and will have strong interest in potential contribution to local rural economy including employment and barley demand. Changes/Problems:The phase II project led to successful commercialization of technology to produce multiple, high value products from barley with a technology license and project to construct a commercial Barley Protein Concentrate, BPC, production plant. In phase II, MBAI successfully demonstrated pilot scale extraction and recovery of beta glucan from barley and production of lactic acid using culture of selected fungi. However, commercial opportunity led to additions to the work plan and departure from the original Commercialization Strategy. Commercial efforts identified an opportunity for BPC production with concentrated glucose syrups as alternative co-product. Immediate BPC market is the Idaho trout industry with glucose syrup as a feed supplement to regional dairies. Modifying the BPC process to produce glucose syrup required added work in phase II to develop and demonstrate process modifications. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results have been presented to aquaculture producers and aqua feed manufacturing companies in the US, Europe and Asia. Results presented through participation in aquaculture technolgy programs, in the US Fish 2.0 and internationally through the Hatch Aquaculture Accelerator program. Results also presented to grain and animal feed process companies and pet food companies with power point presentations and with BPC product specifications and BPC product samples. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The phase II project developed and demonstrated at pilot scale an integrated biological process for producing multiple bio-products from barley. The phase II project led to a technology license and initiation of project to construct a commercial production plant. In phase II MBAI successfully demonstrated pilot scale extraction and recovery of beta glucan from barley and production of lactic acid using culture of selected fungi. Commercial efforts identified an opportunity for BPC production with concentrated glucose syrups as alternative co-product. Glucose syrup is a third co-product of the BPC process also scaled to pilot production in phase II. Beta glucan is extracted in hot water as a first step in the process and recovered by ethanol precipitation. Beta glucan is recovered as a gel or as dry powder with 40 to 50% beta glucan concentration. Treating extracted water with alpha amylase to remove contaminating starch raised beta glucan concentration to over 70%. Beta glucan extraction did not affect BPC yield or quality. Four different process flow options were tested to optimize lactic acid production and BPC. The process developed in phase 1 used yeast fermentation to convert glucose produced from the enzyme treatments to ethanol. For organic acids yeast is replaced with a selected Rhizopus strain to covert glucose to lactic acid. Protein is recovered after lactic acid fermentation is compete. Process flow is efficient but recovers fungal cell mass in the final BPC. Fungal cell mass dilutes final protein content by about 3 to 5% and raised question regarding the need for additional regulatory approvals. Process steps separating protein prior to Rhizopus culture enabled fungal lactic acid production without incorporating fungal cell mass in final BPC, but required modifications to enzyme treatments and process flow rates. Modifications to enzyme treatment and process flow also enabled recovery of a glucose stream concentrated by evaporation to 60% glucose syrup. Assays of the glucose syrup for feed value confirmed value as energy supplement for dairy cows. With the process developed in phase II, barley with 12 to 15% protein is processed to BPC with 65% protein. BPC from the modified process streams has been evaluated in trout feed trials with protein digestibility superior to soy protein concentrates and comparable to fish meal. At the conclusion of phase II terms have been agreed for a technology license which is final stages of negotiation. The license is with an international grain trading and process company to construct a commercial BPC production plant at a location in Idaho with annual capacity of 6,000 BPC and 18,000 tons glucose at an estimated capital cost of $9.5 million. Immediate BPC market is the Idaho trout industry with glucose syrup as a feed supplement to regional dairies. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2020 with commercial production in the second quarter of 2021. The agreement specifies schedules for increasing BPC production through 2025 to supply expanded protein markets North America and Asia.
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Progress 09/01/17 to 08/31/18
Outputs
Target Audience:Target Audiences for the project include: Barley growers. Barley growers in Montana, surrounding states and Canada have followed development of the barley protein technology. Growers have a continuing interest in results of the project and potential increased demand for barley. Potential for contracting to grow specific barley varieties is of particular interest to growers as an additional market. Financial institutions. Commercial development of barley protein and co-products will require debt and equity financing for a commercial scale production facility. Financial audience for economics of BPC and co-products will include potential equity investors, corporate partners, and lending institutions. MBAI is in discussions with three potential investors in commercial BPC production Economic development agencies. Federal, state and local economic development agencies will have an interest in the project results. Such agencies may provide financial or other support for a commercial project and will have strong interest in potential contribution to local rural economy including employment and barley demand. Potential customers. The aquaculture industry has shown strong interest in the barley protein concentrate as a protein ingredient in aquaculture feeds especially for trout and salmon. Aquaculture feed producers will have an interest in results of the project affecting barley protein concentrate price and long-term availability. New customers for co-products will be an audience for cost of different products and potential advantages in "green" or "sustainable" sources of supply. MBAI is in discussions with distribution companies which supply ingredients to multiple end users. Changes/Problems:Permit from the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau TTB needed for ethanol to be used in beta glucan recovery was delayed. To accommodate the delay MBAI reoredered pilot plant task, focussing on the Rhizopu lactic acid production and delaying the scale up of beta glucan recovery. Recently TTB has been responsive and permit should be issued. Reordering the tasks has not affected overall progress on the project. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Written technical information, financial proejctions and Power Point presentatione have been provided to three different potential investors in the technology. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Scale up of the integrated process required modifications to the existing BPC, ethanol co-product pilot plant. Design and modification for Rhizopus culture and lactic acid production were completed and included reconfiguring sterilizable in place tank, and heat exchangers for inoculum production, reconfiguring process plumbing/flow between process tanks, adding aeration and modifying agitation in Rhizopus culture tanks and reconfiguring process flow to centrifuge. Modifications for beta glucan extraction and recovery were designed but not yet installed. MBAI made significant progress on objectives 1, 2 and 3 during year 1 of the project. Objective 1 Beta glucan extraction and recovery In the process, beta glucan is precipitated from solution by addition of ethanol. Pilot scale up was delayed by obtaining the necessary permits for ethanol from the Alcohol and Tobacco Trade and Tax Bureau. The TTB had permit application for more than eight months without responding despite repeated requests. MBAI changed the original order of tasks focusing in lactic acid scale up and further refinement of the beta glucan process at lab scale. In the final process based on simple hot water extraction beta glucan recovery was about 60% from the whole barley with 65% to 70% beta glucan concentration. MBAI also arranged for tests of the beta glucan as an immune stimulant in farmed trout to meet objective 4. Objective 2 Rhizopus organic acids Based on phase 1 results, and market analysis MBAI focused phase II research on Rhizopus culture for lactic acid production. Lactic acid concentration achieved in pilot tests is less than in parallel tests in laboratory fermenters. Results suggest the most likely cause for lower lactic acid yield is poor oxygen transfer. Further modifications to aeration and agitation is in progress. Continued laboratory optimization of lactic acid production achieved significant increase over phase 1 results, increasing final concentrations from about 3% to 5% with the Rhizopus strain selected for BPC production with potential to more than double concentrations achieved in the pilot plant. Experiments using alternative strains achieved over 7% lactic acid concentration. However, BPC recovered from tests using alternative strains did not meet specification for protein concentration. Pilot plant aeration and agitation systems have been modified and tests continue. 3. Develop overall process design integrating both beta glucan recovery and Rhizopus culture in BPC production. Progress on this task was in laboratory optimization as pilot tests of beta glucan extraction were not conducted. Tests in 7-liter bench fermenters using barley solids after beta glucan extraction achieved the same lactic acid concentration and overall yield as whole barley processed for BPC. Commercialization During year 1, MBAI established non-disclosure agreements and held discussions with three different potential investors in a commercial BPC production facility. The strategy of each of these is to design and construct a production plant using the current proven BPC ethanol co-product process but with design to include the beta glucan lactic acid co-products for integration at later date. The most advanced negotiation is with a company which currently operates a corn based ethanol plant. The company is evaluating integrating the proven BPC, ethanol co-product process into the ethanol plant. The integration design will enable beta glucan, lactic acid co-products at a later date. The company is completing preliminary engineering design and capital cost estimate for the first stage of integrating BPC production. They expect to decide whether to proceed by year end 2018. One other discussion is with a grain trading, processing and ingredient company. The company could be a good fit for BPC as they deal in barley for both livestock feed and specialty varieties for human food, fishmeal for aquaculture and protein ingredients for pet foods. The third is a venture capital company focused on agriculture related investments in the Midwest. They are raising a fund for agriculture related investment in Montana and see BPC as a good fit for their focus. The company has started their due diligence.
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