Oxygen functionalities are key functional groups in many of today’s chemicals and materials. The efficient introduction of oxygen-functionalities into raw materials are key chemical transformations in bulk and fine chemicals. Innovative bio-catalytic oxidation routes using molecular oxygen (from air) under benign and mild (pH) conditions such as ambient temperature and pressure can greatly improve the sustainability and economics of processes, but were so far mainly been applied in the pharma segments. In this segment, the enzyme-catalyzed step often represents the highest added value and the high price of the end-product (> €1000/kg) justifies less than optimal enzyme production and limitations in its catalytic efficiency. In order to achieve the widening of industrial application of enzymatic bio-oxidation processes to also larger volume but lower price chemical markets, ROBOX will demonstrate the techno-economic viability of bio-transformations of four types of robust oxidative enzymes: P450 monooxygenases (P450s), Baeyer-Villiger MonoOxygenase (BVMOs), Alcohol DeHydrogenase (ADH) and Alcohol OXidase (AOX) for which target reactions have already been validated on lab-scale in pharma, nutrition, fine & specialty chemicals and materials applications. ROBOX will demonstrate 11 target reactions on large scale for these markets in order to prepare them for scale up to commercial-scale plants. ROBOX is industry-driven with 2 major industrial players and 6 SME’s. It will assess the potential of technologies applied to become platform technologies technologies (multi-parameter screening systems, computational methodologies, “plug bug” expression systems) for broad replication throughout the chemical industry. The markets addressed within ROBOX represent a joint volume of over 6.000 ktons/year. The introduction of bio-oxidation processes is expected to bring substantial reductions in cost (up to -50%), energy use (-60%), chemicals (-16%) and GHG-emissions (-50%).

HyCool Project Mission is increasing the current use of Solar Heat in Industry Processes, and to do so the project proposes the coupling of a new Fresnel CSP Solar thermal collectors (FCSP) with specially build Hybrid Heat Pumps (HHP) (a “two-in one” combination of adsorption and compressor based heat pumps) for a wider output temperature range (Solar Heating & Cooling –SHC-), and to provide a wide range of design and operational configurations to better fit each case, hence increasing the potential implementation of the proposed Solar Heat in industrial environments. The two main features of HyCool System are Flexibility and Efficiency an they will allow different strategies for a technically and economically viable system. During Capital Expeditures phase simplicity will be aimed pursuing easiness in design configuration optimization, modular construction and ITS for commissioning. During Operational Expenditures the optimum balance between the HyCool System Operational Flexibility and Efficiency will be targeted to maximize HyCool cost effectiveness to each individual case. Following this, the pilots proposed will demonstrate both opposed strategies in two selected key leading industry sectors: Food Case Pilot targets specialized small Food industries in high solar irradiation areas with cooling needs in their processes. Here narrow configurations are aimed to optimize Efficiency, so a simple system will be selected to obtain maximum outputs based on the conditions of use. Chemical Case Pilot target industries with several processes in high solar irradiation areas with steam and cooling needs. Here a more complex configuration is aimed to optimize Operational Flexibility, so a more complex system will be implemented, able to be switched among different options based on weather, season and production schedule. Finally, special consideration will be taken in building trust during HyCool communication and results dissemination during the project.