PHA Biocomposites from Lignocellulose: Scalability and Sustainability Analyses through Dynamic Simulation, LCA, and TEA

Jhuma Sadhukhan; Xiaoyan Hu; Ritam Sen; James Michael Bowbrick Smith; Kathleen Dunbar; Angela Marie Bywater; Jeong Jae Wie; Chang Geun Yoo; Arthur Ragauskas

doi:10.1039/D6GC00337K

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PHA Biocomposites from Lignocellulose: Scalability and Sustainability Analyses through Dynamic Simulation, LCA, and TEA

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PHA Biocomposites from Lignocellulose: Scalability and Sustainability Analyses through Dynamic Simulation, LCA, and TEA

Jhuma Sadhukhan, Xiaoyan Hu, Ritam Sen, James Michael Bowbrick Smith, Kathleen Dunbar, Angela Marie Bywater, Jeong Jae Wie, Chang Geun Yoo and Arthur Ragauskas

Green Chemistry, Vol.28(22), pp.9369-9387

08/06/2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/D6GC00337K

Abstract

Dynamic simulation

LCA

polyhydroxyalkanoate

biocomposite

bioeconomy

Tea

Lignocellulosic residues are underutilized carbon resources for circular, inherently climate-negative biopolymer manufacturing. This study presents the first integrated dynamic simulation, life cycle assessment, and techno-economic analysis (DS-LCA-TEA) of polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) biocomposite production from lignocellulose. A kinetic and mass transfer-based bioreactor model was developed and calibrated using experimental data for Cupriavidus necator cultivated on lignocellulose-derived sugars, reproducing transient biomass and intracellular PHA accumulation (0.55 w/w PHA/substrate and 0.67 w/w PHA/cell dry weight). Dynamic outputs informed plant-wide mass and energy balances for a 1 kt/y PHAbiocomposite process integrating biomass pretreatment, fermentation, natural deep eutectic solvent-based PHA recovery, fiber-PHA compounding, and end-of-life circularity. The LCA results using ReCiPe (M) (H) show a global warming potential (GWP) of 1.51 kg CO₂e/kg PHA, which shifts to a net GWP of 0.21

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Title: PHA Biocomposites from Lignocellulose: Scalability and Sustainability Analyses through Dynamic Simulation, LCA, and TEA
Creators: Jhuma Sadhukhan (Corresponding Author) - University of Surrey, School of Engineering
Xiaoyan Hu (Author) - University of Surrey, School of Engineering
Ritam Sen (Author)
James Michael Bowbrick Smith (Author) - University of Surrey, School of Engineering
Kathleen Dunbar (Author) - University of Surrey, School of Maths and Physics
Angela Marie Bywater (Author) - University of Surrey, School of Engineering
Jeong Jae Wie (Author) - Hanyang University
Chang Geun Yoo (Author) - State University of New York
Arthur Ragauskas (Author) - University of Tennessee at Knoxville
Publication Details: Green Chemistry, Vol.28(22), pp.9369-9387
Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry
First online publication date: 08/05/2026
Publication Date: 08/06/2026
Date accepted for publication: 07/05/2026
Grants: BB/S009795/1, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (United Kingdom, Swindon) - BBSRC
Global Center for Sustainable Bioproducts, BB/Z517100/1, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (United Kingdom, Swindon) - BBSRC
NSF OISE 2435227, U.S. National Science Foundation (United States, Alexandria) - NSF
RS-2024-00451875, Ministry of Science and ICT (South Korea, Sejong) - MSIT
ELEMENTAL Engineering Biology Mission Hub, BB/Y008456/1, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (United Kingdom, Swindon) - BBSRC
Grant note: The authors gratefully acknowledge the funding support of BBSRC under grant number BB/Z517100/1 and the National Science Foundation Office of International Science and Engineering (NSF OISE 2435227) for the Global Center for Sustainable Bioproducts https://globalcsb.sites.utk.edu/ that undertook this work. This research was also supported by the Bio&Medical Technology Development Program of the National Research Foundation (NRF), funded by the Korean government (MSIT) (No. RS-2024-00451875). The authors also acknowledge the support of BB/Y008456/1: ELEMENTAL Engineering Biology Mission Hub and EBNet (Environmental Biotechnology Network) BB/S009795/1.
Identifiers: 991122994602346
Copyright: © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2026. This Open Access Article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 3.0 Unported Licence. For the purpose of open access, the authors have applied a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licence to any Author Accepted Manuscript version arising.
Academic Unit: Mechanical Engineering Sciences; School of Maths and Physics
Language: English
Resource Type: Journal article
Data Access Statement: The datasets generated and analysed during this study, including dynamic simulation outputs, are available in an open repository, with persistent identifiers to be provided upon acceptance. The dynamic simulation source code and analysis scripts are available via a public code repository: the open-source GitHub codes https://github.com/jhumasadhukhan/pha_optimisation/blob/main/dynamicsim.py and https://github.com/nicolehu0306-crypto/Dynamical-modelling-of-PHA-production. TEA and LCA data are available open-source: https://clovecircle.com/standalone/PHA-from-lignocellulose-lca-tea.html. Supplementary information (SI) is available. See DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/d6gc00337k.

PHA Biocomposites from Lignocellulose: Scalability and Sustainability Analyses through Dynamic Simulation, LCA, and TEA

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