Rational Enhancement of Enzyme Performance via Polymer-based Protein Engineering for Biodiesel Production

An increasingly developed global population necessitates an increased demand for inexpensive energy, which must be clean, efficient, and renewable in order to prevent adverse effects on future resources and the climate. Biodiesel has emerged as a renewably-produced, potentially carbon- neutral hydrocarbon, making it an attractive alternative to conventionally-obtained fossil fuels. Nevertheless, state-of-the-art chemical processing for production biodiesel suffers from inefficient conversion of the most cheap and low-quality feedstocks. Enzymatic biodiesel production has been shown to be a promising alternative due to a more efficient synthesis process, but its adaptation to an industrial scale has been slow due to enzymes’ cost and slow reaction times. BioHybrid Solutions is developing a new enzyme-based catalyst for biodiesel production to improve the performance and stability of enzymes, providing cost-effective access to cheaper and potentially renewable feedstocks. A drastic enhancement of the enzyme’s properties is achieved by utilizing polymer-based protein engineering technology wherein stability and performance can be improved via targeted modification of enzymes with rationally-designed functional polymers. During Phase I work BioHybrid Solutions demonstrated feasibility of the selected polymer-based approach on tuning of properties of the enzyme performance in biodiesel production. Results of the work demonstrated several potential and crucial benefits of the novel enzyme-based catalyst for advancing biodiesel production process. During Phase II BioHybrid Solutions plans to further develop and optimize product formulation, as well as develop initial scale-up capabilities for future commercialization. Additionally, the overall biodiesel synthesis process will be optimized for the newly developed enzyme-based catalyst. The fast-growing biodiesel market is driving demand for more efficient and innovative production. BioHybrid Solutions will be in a position to provide the necessary enzyme-based catalysts to this growing market. This type of enzymatic production will be more beneficial for biodiesel manufacturers due to reduced wastewater production, more energy-efficient processing, elimination of the use of hazardous chemicals, as well as higher quality of final products compared to that achieved by traditional alkali-catalyzed transesterification methods. Among major consumers benefiting from getting access to biodiesel are public transportation sector, trucking industry, US Navy, Air Force and Army. Significantly cleaner combustion of biodiesel in comparison to petrodieselis another crucial public benefit.