By leading edge microwave reactor design, green solvents, and business insight.

AuteursManuel Happe, Sandrine Aeby, Sebastien Farquet, Pascal Grand, Eric Mabillard, Jean-Claude Héritier, François Corthay, Roger Marti, Ennio Vanoli, Alain Grogg, Samuel Nussbaum, Alain Roduit, Sam Salem, François Tièche, Carole Constantin, Esther Schmitt, Silvan Zahno, Ahmed Habib, Julien Wyss

ContACtFabian Fischer fabian.fischer@hevs.ch

VAlorisAtion• Renewable chemicals like biodie-

sel, surfactants, polymers, lubri-cants, speciality chemicals, and pharmaceuticals find ultimately established markets.

• A versatile reactor is designed, tested, and envisioned for biotransformations and green chemistry. The reactor design anticipates a blow up to any size.

• More than a million green ionic liquids wait for creation, and are now easily manufactured to the benefit of performance chemi-cal users.

Industrial White Biotechnology requires new processes and tools for the production of re- newable chemicals. An interdisciplinary team of biotechnologists, chemists, mechanical engineers, electron-ics engineers, and economists addressed this challenge. One of the core products engineered is a microwave barrel reactor, implemented for bio-lubricant

production. This novel tool is proposed to lower energy cons-umption and production cost. Also a range of green solvents known as ionic liquids performed in particular as co-catalysts in conjunction with biocatalysts. Market analyses translated to business models guided the project execution. New products and tools are now available as innovation inducers.

Cleantech biotransformation of renewable chemicals

2009Calls

PArtners This project was leaded by the Institute of Life Technologies HES-SO Valais

Wallis in collaboration with Systems Engineering, HES-SO Valais Wallis, Institute of Chemistry HES-SO Fribourg, Institut des Systèmes d’Information et de Communication Haute Ecole Arc St Imier, Institute of Economics, HEIG-VD Yverdon