Biosurfactants are ‘trending’ biobased products. Big chemical companies are setting the example by introducing biobased and biotech products onto the surfactant market. In this module an overview will be given about what (bio)surfactants are, how and from which materials they are produced. Currently commericalised examples and their opportunities and hurdles will be discussed. A case study will be presented to demonstrate how new types of microbial biosurfactants can be brought to the market by following an integrated process design approach, which will first be explained in general.

In this module you’ll find out:

• What are (bio)surfactants?
• What feedstocks are used for the production of (bio)surfactants?
• How are (bio)surfactants produced?
• Where are (bio)surfactants used?
• What are microbial biosurfactants?
• What are opportunities/advantages and hurdles/disadvantages for microbial biosurfactants?
• How can an integrated bioprocess design help to bring microbial biosurfactants to the market?