Bioplastics from C1 Gases - Substitute Sustainable Products for Polymer Coated Steel
type: CreativeWork
description: Tata Steel, one of the largest producers of steel in the world, emits more than 6 million tonnes of CO2 annually, with blast furnaces accounting for 70% of this CO2 emission. To lessen the amount of greenhouse gases discharged into our atmosphere and to limit their effect on the environment, it is necessary to recycle these gases into sustainable products. Tata Steel utilises coating to prevent corrosion by forming a barrier that deteriorates before the steel underneath. Given that their existing coatings, like the majority of coatings on the market, are derived from petrochemicals, a biodegradable product with comparable properties would contribute to reduce the negative environmental impacts of the steel industry. Petrochemicals are derived from petroleum, a fossil carbon source with limited availability and a constantly rising cost, with a very slow degradation rate causing problems for its disposal. Therefore, biodegradable polymers created from industrial by-products would be a sustainable alternative. Tata Steel has already a pilot plant that converts blast furnace gases into VFA and particularly into acetate. It was then proposed to use glycogen-accumulating organisms (GAOs), which are bacteria obtained from wastewater treatment plants, to produce mixes of biopolymers called polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA). With acetate as the sole carbon source and by varying several culture conditions (substrate concentration, temperature, pH, nutrient concentration), different mixes of PHA were obtained. Further experiments were conducted to determine the best mix for steel coating in terms of properties and PHA accumulation. A PHA accumulation of 29% of cell dry weight was obtained at 23°C, with an acetate concentration of 4 g/L and with limited nitrogen availability. The PHA composition varied in terms of HB:HV ratio as a result of several parameter changes, with HB always being the most predominant monomer. As HB is more brittle and less thermoresistant than HV, achieving a…
abstract: Tata Steel, one of the largest producers of steel in the world, emits more than 6 million tonnes of CO2 annually, with blast furnaces accounting for 70% of this CO2 emission. To lessen the amount of greenhouse gases discharged into our atmosphere and to limit their effect on the environment, it is necessary to recycle these gases into sustainable products. Tata Steel utilises coating to prevent corrosion by forming a barrier that deteriorates before the steel underneath. Given that their existing coatings, like the majority of coatings on the market, are derived from petrochemicals, a biodegradable product with comparable properties would contribute to reduce the negative environmental impacts of the steel industry. Petrochemicals are derived from petroleum, a fossil carbon source with limited availability and a constantly rising cost, with a very slow degradation rate causing problems for its disposal. Therefore, biodegradable polymers created from industrial by-products would be a sustainable alternative. Tata Steel has already a pilot plant that converts blast furnace gases into VFA and particularly into acetate. It was then proposed to use glycogen-accumulating organisms (GAOs), which are bacteria obtained from wastewater treatment plants, to produce mixes of biopolymers called polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA). With acetate as the sole carbon source and by varying several culture conditions (substrate concentration, temperature, pH, nutrient concentration), different mixes of PHA were obtained. Further experiments were conducted to determine the best mix for steel coating in terms of properties and PHA accumulation. A PHA accumulation of 29% of cell dry weight was obtained at 23°C, with an acetate concentration of 4 g/L and with limited nitrogen availability. The PHA composition varied in terms of HB:HV ratio as a result of several parameter changes, with HB always being the most predominant monomer. As HB is more brittle and less thermoresistant than HV, achieving a…
author: Catherine, Marie-Claire
language: eng
date published: 2023-10
date modified: 2026-07-24T04:39:51Z
provider: University of South Wales
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of South Wales