To reduce carbon dioxide emissions, there is a pressing need to develop alternatives to fossil-based materials. Finding the right bio-based material, however, is just the first step. The bioprocess engineering team provides solutions for a variety of bioprocesses and exploitation of different organisms – from bacteria, yeasts, and fungi to algae and plant cells.
Precise monitoring and characterization of microbial physiology in process conditions facilitates optimisation and scale-up from bench scale cultivations to semi-industrial pilot scale processes.
Key facts
Get an analysis of the feasibility of a newly developed process and advance your bioproduction system to an optimised, industrially viable level.
Remove the need for investments in your own pilot production equipment.
More than 60 fermenters with real-time process monitoring and leading downstream processing equipment at your disposal.
Why do we need bioprocess development?
To solve the climate crisis, there is a pressing need to replace fossil-based materials with more sustainable alternatives. Examples of renewable and relevant alternatives include sugars, cellulose, lignin, bio-oils, waste streams and recycled liquefied plastics.
With the right know-how, renewable raw materials can be economically converted into valuable intermediates and products. Bioprocess development helps you design, test and refine a financially viable manufacturing process for developing sustainable organic acids, vaccines, proteins, polymer precursors, plastics, chemicals and fuels.
Scale your production from the lab to the factory faster
The jump from a laboratory to a full-scale production line is a big investment. Our bioprocess development experts reduce the risks of the investment and ensure a safe production process.
Bioprocess development optimises the production process to find the most economical way of producing the end-product. By scaling the production incrementally towards larger reactors, you can make the production more sustainable and energy efficient.
VTT’s the biotechnical and chemical facilities accommodate the entire value chain. We can help you in pre-handling a variety of raw materials, processing in fermenters or chemical reactors, and finally separation and purification – in small lab scale all the way to pilot scale.
Valuable chemical process development expertise and resources at your disposal
At VTT, we have a unique platform for chemical process and product development: a combination of modern intensified reactor technologies, multiple reactor systems and state-of-the-art analytical infrastructure for chemical, polymer and surface characterisations.
VTT’s bioprocess facilities are well equipped with more than 60 fermenters, ranging from less than 100 ml to 1,200 l working volume. The reactors are connected to various online measurements for real time process monitoring and control. Several parameters can be measured from offline samples (such as cell dry weight, sugars and organic acids) to fully characterize the fermentation process.
Related infrastructure
The facilities also include a bioprocess automation platform as well as advanced downstream processing equipment: centrifuges, a drum filter, a continuous separator, a press filter, pressure-based cell lysis, and micro ultra-filtration units.
Our experts have successfully developed processes ranging from even the most surprising raw materials to the most extravagant products. We have hands-on experience with the bioprocess development consulting, and we know the science of bioprocessing - we are here to help you tackle your specific challenge.
Our flexible pilot facilities with skilled personnel provide an agile scale-up platform for bioprocess development, chemical process development and the development of biobased fuels and energy.
Leading expertise in the following areas
- Bioprocess development and modelling
- Fermentations and their control (feeding strategies and continuous cultures)
- Pilot scale downstream processing (e.g. cell separation, ultrafiltration, drying)
- Automated cultivations with the Sartorius ambr250 system
- Microbial physiology
- Biofuels and biorefinery
- Fungal protein production
- Biorefinery, biofuels and -chemicals
- Brewing yeast, beverage fermentation and flavour generation.
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Project cases
Egg white protein production technology without chickens awarded by EARTO
VTT developed a safe, environmentally sustainable and cost-effective method for mass production of high value proteins, such as egg white, without using animals.
New VTT-based startup company eniferBio produces protein from biorefinery by-products
eniferBio has developed a new and sustainable production process for a high-quality fish feed ingredient and recently received funding for its solution from two funds.
VTT Industrial Biotechnology: Microtiter to Pilot Scale
VTT Industrial Biotechnology: Pilot facility
VTT’s bioprocess development specialists
Get to know our experts and explore our equipment.
