Bioreactor systems design for bioprocess innovations

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This ongoing research program trains students in bioprocessing skills which are in demand by Canadian industry and academia. These skills are needed for the efficient design and control of biotechnology operations. Concurrently, the research explores new methods for producing pharmaceuticals and other biological products. In this proposal, we plan to use our extensive experience with fermentation systems to investigate bioprocessing strategies appropriate for production of a model protein product, such as found in therapeutic agents, and an enzyme product, such as used to make sugar from cellulosic materials. In addition to basic knowledge creation, the first application is of interest to the pharmaceutical industry and the second one is relevant to biorefineries that operate based on renewable biomass resources. According to our proposition, pneumatically-stirred bioreactor devices have distinct advantages over traditional mechanically-stirred ones for these applications in terms of energy conservation and less risk for contamination. These factors have been overlooked in previous work.