Fundamental Bioengineering

17Commercial Development of Fermentation Processes

Thomas Grotkjær

Summary

This chapter links fermentation technology with economics and business development on the track from research to commercial production. After the introduction Section 17.2 describes the overall challenges of developing fermentation processes and how to deal with the high degree of uncertainty in the initial phase. The techno-economic analysis of fermentation processes is described in Section 17.3. It is shown how the key fermentation parameters, namely, carbon yield, productivity, and product titer impact production costs. Five fermentation-based chemicals are used as examples in the subsequent analysis (ethanol, n-butanol, succinic acid, adipic acid, and 1,3-propanediol). In each case, a corresponding petrochemical route is used as benchmark and the concept of an “indifference curve” is introduced.

Succinic acid is an emerging building block in the chemical industry and hence several technical and commercial aspects of this product are analyzed in detail. In Section 17.4, basic concepts of market and value chain analysis are introduced. The value chain analysis is used to illustrate the importance of feedstock and how brand owners can have an impact on how renewable products are commercialized and marketed. Fermentation technology can be used to produce new chemicals and it is discussed how renewable resources and biotechnology bring innovation to the industry. It is also shown how new products can ...