InternationalFachagentur Nachwachsende Rohstoffe e. V.

 

BBI 2018.SO2.R8

Develop adequate computational systems for modelling the design, start-up, scaling-up and continuous improvement of bioprocesses involving microorganisms (RIA)

Specific challenge: The state-of-the-art approach to designing, scaling up and starting up bioprocesses is governed by ‘trial and error’ and replicating traditional manufacturing methods. These methods often cause scaling-up losses and start-up delays or failures. There are many variables that have an impact on the design and scaling-up of bioprocesses, making this a very complex exercise. Among the major causes of these variables are:
• an increasingly wider range of biomass feedstock and their varied and heterogeneous composition; and
• revolutionary developments in molecular biology producing more efficient microorganisms that can create a wider range of bio-products.
Both developments demand reliable modelling systems to cope with many variables in simulating the full value chain, from feedstock to products, in search of the most effective combinations.
The design phase should be long enough and have sufficient tools available to test different and radical concepts. And ultimately, in the scaled-up and (semi-)commercial operating phase, there should be guidelines for continuous improvement cycles.
Today’s methods for scaling-up often take a more limited view and do not look at the bigger picture, so that optimisation takes place at lab level, not at plant operation level.
Industry needs reliable modelling approaches, able to predict entire pathways from feedstock and energy intake to product output. This may mean designing tailor-made paths for each specific feedstock – from its intake and preparation, through the processing steps to the end-products.
Recent developments in computation-driven frameworks can help cope with many variables in designing optimal feedstock-organisms-bioprocess configurations and simulating scaling-up. These computation approaches are already standard in fields other than microbial technology and industrial biotechnology.
The specific challenge of this topic is to design and apply reliable and robust computational modelling approaches for bioprocesses.

Identifier:BBI 2018.SO2.R8

Deadline:  06.09.2018