An approach for implementing ecodesign at early research stage: A case study of bacterial cellulose production

Abstract

Previous ecodesign approaches for the laboratory (lab) stage of product development have focused on studying one production route at a time and varying process parameters or equipment. Comparisons of alternative production routes have not been investigated, nor have been proposed specific assessments for each technology readiness level (TRL) at the lab stage of product development. This paper presents and improve an ecodesign approach for TRLs at the lab stage. This approach integrates life cycle assessment with process modeling at the industrial scale. It was applied to assess alternative bacterial cellulose (BC) production routes at the lab scale (hydrolyzed soybean molasses - HSM, diluted soybean molasses - DSM, supplemented cashew juice - SCJ, and synthetic medium Hestrin & Schramm - HS). Our results show that the HSM route exhibited better environmental performance than the other three routes. When compared to the HS route at lab scale, the HSM route reduced in 100%, in climate change, acidification and freshwater eutrophication, and in 95% the impact in marine eutrophication and freshwater ecotoxicity. Among the investigated changes in the HSM route, chemical exchange at purification phase proved possible and reduced the impact on water scarcity in 50%, at lab scale. When the HSM route was compared to the HS, at modeled industrial scale, there were no significant differences in their environmental impacts. The results from this case study allowed us to optimize the proposed ecodesign approach. We recommend that life cycle assessment (LCA) be performed at lab scale to determine the technological route with the least impact, identify critical inputs (disregarding water and energy), investigate changes that reduce environmental impacts without affecting product quality, and characterize liquid effluents. At the modeled industrial scale, the assessment of the selected route should focus on the identification of critical phases for improving water and energy efficiencies.