Extrusion of marine macroalgae for packaging material production – Industry financed doctorate
Environmental pollution due to plastic waste is a global problem. In addition to the expansion and improvement of disposal systems, it is necessary to expand use biodegradable packaging materials. Macroalgae are a source of raw materials with great potential for the production of alternative packaging materials.
Their cultivation requires no land, no fresh water, fertilizer or pesticides. They only need sunlight, CO2 and nutrients to grow. Due to the increasing CO2 concentration in the air and heavy fertilization in agriculture, both are abundant in the oceans. By growing and absorbing these substances, macroalgae contribute to improving water quality and provide additional habitats for small fish and invertebrates.
The aim of this research is to demonstrate the industrial production of packaging material from macroalgae by extrusion on pilot plant scale. The relationships between raw material - machine design - process control - packaging material properties are investigated.
The basis for processing natural materials in industrial processes is the analysis of the raw material quality. Parallel to extrusion processing, a measuring method to quickly determine the macroalgae quality is developed. Based on the measurement data suitable process parameters for extrusion will be identified to maintain high end product quality despite raw material quality fluctuation.
Project funding:
The research is funded by Brabender GmbH & Co KG as industry financed doctorate.
Project duration:
01/2020-12/2022
Contact:
Packstoffe aus Makroalgen
NameMr Dipl.-Ing. Ludwig Schmidtchen
external doctoral student
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Cooperation partners:
Brabender GmbH&Co.KG
Prof. M.Y. Roleda, Marine Science Institute, University of the Philippines
