A PROCESS FOR THE RECOVERY OF POLY(HYDROXYALKANOATES) FROM PSEUDOMONADS .2. PROCESS-DEVELOPMENT AND ECONOMIC-EVALUATION

Medium-chain-length poly(hydroxyalkanoates) (mcl-PHAs) are storage pol yesters accumulated by fluorescent pseudomonads, which are currently r eceiving much attention because of their potential as biodegradable an d renewable elastomers. Owing to their amorphous character, these biop olymers can ideally be handled as latices. The present paper describes the development of a nonsolvent based process for the recovery of mcl -PHAs. Via solubilization of the biomass and subsequent filtration, th is process yields a latex as a final product. From a preliminary econo mic evaluation, it was estimated that it should be feasible to produce mcl-PHA by this route at an ultimate minimum price of 5 US$. kg(-1).