Bioplastic sheet production from 1,3-Propanediol produced by raw Glycerol fermentation

Abstract

1,3-Propanediol (PDO) was produced by Enterobacter radicincitans TISTR 1805 using crude glycerol
fermentation for bioplastics sheet production. PDO production was scaled up to 150 L in a 300 L pilot scale
fermentor by 5% crude glycerol at 37 ºC during 3 days. The PDO yield was 344.3 mmol mol-1 pure glycerol
and the cell growth rate was 8.1-28.8 mg L-1 hr-1. After that, the culture product was passed through purification
process by diatomite filtration and fractional distillation at the range of 150-300 ºC, using the pressure of 10
mmHg. The purity of PDO was 98%. Preparation of polypropylene succinate (PPSu) using PDO was carried out
by esterification and polycondensation processes. Then, the PPSu was blended with cellulose acetate and casted for
bioplastic film. The preliminary result of biodegradation test in compost revealed that this film could be degraded
69-85% within 3 months at 58±2 ºC incubation. Furthermore, studies on primary testing of toxicity of residues
after degradation on a tested animal, Daphnia magna, and a tested plant, Brassica chinensis, were also performed.