Services

Our group, in collaboration with our partners, has the necessary infrastructure to carry out qualitative and quantitative analysis of crude renewable resources, solid state and submerged fermentations, biomass pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis, downstream separation and purification of fermentation products, bioprocess design, techno-economic evaluation, and life cycle assessment.

  • Analytical Methods

    Major equipment is available on composition analysis of crude renewable resources including biomass, food products and food supply chain side streams among others. Our lab is equipped with 2 High-Pressure Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) units with refractive index (RI), ultraviolet (UV) and diode-array detectors, 1 Gas Chromatography with flame ionization detector (GC-FID), Gel Permeation Chromatography (GPC) and 1 UV-Vis spectrophotometer.

    Different compounds such as cellulose and hemicellulose are analyzed by following protocols such as NREL Laboratory Analytical Procedure (LAP) protocol for cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin characterization, uronic acid for pectin quantification, starch, moisture, and ash determination using the appropriate equipment. Also, Kjeldahl is used for protein content determination, lipid quantification is conducted through extraction by Soxhlet apparatus and qualification of fatty acids by GC-FID.

  • Biorefinery Development

    Biomass fractionation is conducted for the production of different value-added fractions such as proteins, pectins, lipids, bioactive-rich fractions, lignin and sugar-rich hydrolysates. Biomass fractionation could be carried out via:

    • Conventional methods, such as alkaline, organosolv and hydrothermal pretreatment by the appropriate equipment
    • Novel methods, such as deep eutectic solvents, dielectric barrier discharge non-thermal plasma

  • Bioprocess Development

    Crude hydrolysates from various renewable resources are used for the production of fermentation products, such as bio-based chemicals (e.g. succinic acid, 2,3-butanediol), polymers (e.g. polyhydroxyalkanoates), materials (e.g. bacterial cellulose), microbial oil and food additives (e.g. natural preservatives, microbial protein, biocolourants). Optimisation studies include enzymatic hydrolysis and treatment, fermentation strategies and downstream separation and purification of fermentation products.

  • Biopolymer Properties & Applications

    PHB and PHBV are both characterized by their thermal and mechanical properties and utilized for further application, such as flexible and rigid packaging materials. GPC is used for molecular weight determination, mechanical properties are characterized by a universal testing machine, whereas thermal properties are identified by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC).

    Bacterial cellulose is synthesized via fermentation, purified, and serves as a matrix and reinforcing agent in polymers. Further modification can be conducted using different chemicals such as acids, to generate bacterial cellulose nanostructures and derivatives including nanocellulose and methylcellulose. These structures find applications across various industries encompassing food, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals.

  • Sustainability Assessment

    The sustainability of food processes, bioprocesses and biorefineries is evaluated considering economic and environmental aspects.

    • Process design simulation is employed using appropriate software for the estimation of material and energy balances and equipment sizing for alternative process flow diagrams. Process design data are used as inventories for techno-economic evaluation and life cycle assessment.
    • Techno-economic assessment to estimate appropriate indicators, such as unitary production cost, minimum selling price and return on investment among others.
    • Life cycle assessment to estimate the environmental impact of food processes, bioprocesses and biorefineries including the estimation of appropriate indicators, such global warming potential, abiotic depletion fossil etc.