Cleaner chemical extraction

A chemical engineer at

has used environmentally-friendly vegetable oils to replace toxic chemical solvents like kerosene in the extraction of a range of biomolecules, such as antibiotics and organic acids.

Dr Monwar Hossain in the Faculty of Engineering's Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering is conducting research into extraction and separation processes which will lead to higher productivity in a wide range of sectors, including the pharmaceutical, food, dairy, biochemical and metals industries.

Dr Hossain's team has successfully extracted biomolecules, such as penicillin G and lactic acid with a process that utilises vegetable oils like sunflower oil to replace toxic and volatile solvents such as kerosene and toluene, the latter derived from coal and wood tar.

The antibiotic penicillin is widely used because of its lack of toxicity and irritancy. Penicillin G is the raw material of semi-synthetic penicillins, with more than 20 countries manufacturing over 11,000 tonnes of it a year.