Single-Course Engelsk 7.5 ECTS

Process adaptation in Fermentation Based Biomanufacturing

Overall Course Objectives

In a linear economy, resources are converted into products, and the products will eventually end up as waste. In a circular economy, products and materials are recirculated and waste is eliminated as much as possible. A circular economy combined with renewable energy should yield a more sustainable system. In a sustainability context, fermentation processes have the ability to convert renewable resources to useful products. Therefore, fermentation can be considered as one of the cornerstones of a greener and more circular economy.

The main purpose of this course is to introduce students to the methods and tools that are available when transferring a cell from a lab or research environment to pilot and full scale. The student following this course should therefore acquire a better understanding of the interactions between the cells and the hardware (the reactor), and will learn how to aim for optimal conditions for the cells to grow in large scale. Topics such as in situ product removal (ISPR), solid state and gas fermentation, scale up/scale down of a fermentation process will also be highlighted as part of the course. Special attention will also be paid to acquiring essential digitalization and data handling skills.

The lectures will be given by experienced DTU teachers, combined with guest teachers from industry. The course includes a visit to a large-scale fermentation facility.

See course description in Danish

Set up a mass balance for different bioreactor operating modes
Simulate different reactor operating modes and interpret the simulation results
Describe the effect of introducing basic process control on a process in a bioreactor
Describe the essential challenges related to solid state fermentations and fermentation processes using gaseous substrates
Select a suitable set of on-line measurements for a cultivation process, as well as distinguish between pros and cons of specific basic and advanced sensor devices
Describe the effect of scale on the performance of a microorganism, as well as pros and cons of different methods to mathematically describe or simulate effects of scale
Develop process based strategies to optimize product formation in a fermentation process
Distinguish between different downstream unit operations and evaluate the pros and cons of introducing in situ product removal (ISPR) on a specific process
Identify and evaluate opportunities for process retrofitting towards reduced environmental impact
Identify opportunities for industrial symbiosis;
Design and implement a basic strategy for collection and handling of data on a fermentation process
Distinguish between basic AI / machine learning tools for fermentation data processing;

Elements included in this course are:
• reactor designs (the hardware) and reactor operating modes
• mass balances related to the different operating modes
• suspended growth systems vs. immobilized growth systems (biofilms)
• miniaturized reactor systems (high throughput fermentation)
• scale-up and scale-down of a process
• on-line sensors (both traditional and novel systems) and biosensors
• basic bioreactor control concepts
• on-line process control
• introduction to computational fluid dynamics and compartment models
• data (types of data, on-line versus off-line), proper handling of data
• different ways to use the available data (estimate parameters in a mechanistic model, extract process knowledge)
• basic concepts of artificial intelligence applied to fermentation data
• solvent recovery
• in situ product removal
• biofuels and biorefineries
• processes for converting waste into resources
• industrial symbiosis principles

Basic knowledge on the use of Python or MATLAB at the start of the course is an advantage, but not a necessity.

The lectures will be given by experienced DTU teachers, combined with guest teachers from industry. The lectures are a mixture of theory and case study examples. Teaching is combined with exercises / problem solving sessions in class.