Biosurfactants scale up

The specialty chemical maker Evonik Industries has begun production of rhamnolipids at its site in Slovakia. Evonik calls the plant the world’s first industrial-scale rhamnolipid surfactant facility, but the company isn’t the only one pursuing the market. Evonik says the plant, which cost “in the low three-digit million-euro range,” will make double-digit metric kilotons of rhamnolipids per year. The firm has piloted rhamnolipid dish soap with the consumer product giant Unilever and says it is seeing strong demand from cleaning and personal care markets. Rhamnolipids are one type of an emerging class of ingredients called biosurfactants , which the industry defines as biodegradable, natural surfactants produced by microorganisms. Most biosurfactants, including rhamnolipids, use sugars as a hydrophilic group alongside hydrophobic fatty acid chains or rings. Evonik’s process uses genetically modified Pseudomonas putida , a nonpathogenic bacteria, to ferment the surfactants from a sugar feedstock. The German firm is one of