SBIR Phase II: Designer Cellulases for Biomass Conversion

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will develop new technology to improve the high-temperature performance of endoglucanase, which can be used to manufacture pulp from wood chips and other biomass. Producing pulp for papermaking via thermomechanical pulping (TMP) of biomass is a highly energy intensive process that is performed at high temperatures. Research is proposed to demonstrate the feasibility of using a directed evolution strategy and high-throughput, solid-phase enzyme library screening to engineer a new endoglucanase variant with significantly improved thermoactivity, thermostability and resistance to inhibitors. This enhanced enzyme will be sold as an additive to manufacturers who produce pulp and paper via the TMP process. Major benefits include energy savings and improvement of paper quality. The commercial application of this project will be on the pulp and paper industry. New screening technology will be used to engineer an enhanced enzyme that will modify pulp fibers under high-temperature conditions. This enzyme additive will accelerate the pulp refining process and thereby lower production costs by reducing the amount of electricity needed to complete the conversion. Any significant reduction in the energy input will be very economically attractive to the pulp producers. If introducing an effective enzyme treatment could eliminate even a modest 10% of the current energy expenditure, the potential worldwide savings could total nearly US$500 million per year. The enhanced enzyme will be able to create a new market by offering these significant savings to the pulp producers. In addition, the information gained from this study could be applied to other similar enzymes to expand the market for thermostable biocatalysts and broaden the understanding of protein structure-function.