Bioprocess Engineering

The use of renewable raw materials and biogenic residues in sustainable production processes offers alternative solutions for chemistry based on fossil raw materials. Particular importance is attached to white/industrial biotechnology, which produces platform and fine chemicals as well as fuels using biotechnological or combined processes. Biogenic raw materials such as lignocellulose or vegetable oils are preferred in such biorefinery concepts in order to obtain environmentally compatible products.

Research in the field of industrial, white biotechnology at Fraunhofer IGB is performed in an interdisciplinary manner. The activities of the Industrial Biotechnology Group headed by Dr. Susanne Zibek focus on establishing, optimizing and upscaling biotransformation processes in which raw materials are transformed into usable products either with the aid of microorganisms or enzymes. We combine the development of transformation processes on a laboratory scale and the optimization of the biocatalysts themselves with the transfer of the processes to larger scales. In addition, we can increase the scale up to the pilot scale either at our customers' and project partners' facilities or at the Fraunhofer Center for Chemical-Biotechnological Processes CBP.

With our interdisciplinary orientation in biology, chemistry and process engineering, we cover the entire process chain and create the prerequisites for the scalability of our processes already at the laboratory scale. Cooperation with a wide variety of project partners from industry enables us to develop ecologically and economically sensible, sustainable future technologies.

Strain development

• Creation of vectors (fusion proteins for purification, secretion, immune assays)
• Metabolic engineering: knock out or overexpression of genes
• Overexpression of enzymes in pro- and eucaryotic systems

Bioprocess technology

• Development of scalable fractionation and/or conversion processes of waste streams to valuable raw materials (chitin, insect fats, etc.) with combinations of mechanical, enzymatic and high pressure processes.
• Development of production processes for bio based chemicals and materials (e.g. biosurfactants)
• Development and optimization of enzyme conversion procedures in stirred tank or fixed bed reactors
• Development and optimization of scalable fermentation processes
• Contract fermentation for the production of biomass, enzymes, or metabolites up to 30-L scale under S1 and S2 conditions and up to 10 m³ scale (S1) at Fraunhofer CBP
• Development of purification methods (e.g. biomass separation, filtration, normal phase chromatography, precipitation, solvent extraction)
• Process intensification for the increase in the space-time yield

Molecular biology

• Thermal cycler to amplify segments of DNA via the polymerase chain reaction
• Agarose gel electrophoresis and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE)

Incubators

• Several temperature-controlled incubators and incubation shakers

Chemical and enzymatic reaction systems

• Temperature-controlled shakers for 24 parallel approaches (2 to 20 ml scale)
• Temperature-controlled stirring system for 6 parallel approaches (30 to 200ml scale)
• Glass reactors with several different stirrer geometries and baffles (1 l and 10 l scale)

Fermenters and bioreactors

• Micro-bioreactor for up to 48 parallel fermentations on a (1.5 ml scale)
• Multi-fermenter-system for up to 8-times the parallel approaches (1.2 l scale, biological security level S2)
• Multi-fermenter-systems for 3 x 4-times the parallel approaches (1.5 l scale, biological security level 1)
• Small-scale fermenter (each 2 x 3.6 l and 7 l scale, biological security level S2)
• Fermenter of the technical center (42 l scale, biological security level S2)
• Accompanying process control systems including exhaust gas analysis for the regulation of Fed-Batch processes with different supplementary feeding processes

Digestion equipment

• High-pressure reactor – (1 l scale), e.g., for pulping bio mass
• Inline-disperser (up to 350 l/h) with several applications for the homogenization and production of emulsions and dispersions
• Ultrasonic laboratory homogenizer for cell disruption, homogenization and degassing with different attachments (sonotrode, volume up to 15ml)

Downstream Processing

• Disc separator to separate fermentation broths
• Crossflow filtration systems for micro- and ultrafiltration with ceramic or polymeric hollow fiber modules (50-2000 cm² membrane surface)
• Automated flash-chromatography for the purification of metabolites
• Continuous rotating evaporator with automated sample supplying and residue drainage

Analysis 

• Automatic DC applicaton equipment
• HPLC- and GPC systems with RI-, UV-, und ELSD-detectors
• Photometric analyzers and multiwell reader
• Multi-enzyme and ion-selective detector (YSI 2950D)
• Microscope (Zeiss, phase and fluorescence contrast, incl. AxioCam camera)