Redesigning bioreactors for sustainable bio-based manufacturing

通过使用微生物的生物基制造为生产有价值的化学品和材料提供了令人兴奋的潜力，作为化石燃料基础的替代品，更可持续的化学品制造。生物反应器是任何生物基化工生产过程的重要组成部分。然而，现有的生物反应器已经被开发出来服务于生物制药行业，生产高价值、小批量的产品，工艺开发和规模化需要很高的研发预算。现有的生物反应器产量低，而且难以规模化。这导致了资源密集、成本高昂的生物基化学生产过程难以实现商业化，而且耗时（5-10年），无法与石油衍生产品竞争。Sterling Bio Machines旨在从第一性原理方法重新审视生物反应器的设计，并重新设计可持续生物基制造的需求。我们新颖的生物反应器概念分离了在生物反应器环境中进行最佳处理所需的功能，以独立控制，在所有规模下提供对生物反应器体积条件的卓越控制，从而实现从实验室到商业生产规模的快速工艺开发。与过程创新中心（CPI）合作，CFD模型将通过模拟典型的好氧发酵过程与标准搅拌槽生物反应器来探索这一概念，以展示使用微生物进行可持续生物基制造的好处。

Bio-based manufacturing through the use of microorganisms offers exciting potential for the production of valuable chemicals and materials as an alternative to fossil fuel based equivalents for more sustainable chemical manufacturing.Bioreactors are an important component of any bio-based chemical production process. However, available bioreactors have been developed to serve the biopharmaceutical industry, producing high-value, low-volume products, with high R&D budgets required for process development and scaling.Existing bioreactors produce low yields and are difficult to scale. This results in resource intensive, costly processes that are difficult and time consuming (5-10 years) to commercialise for bio-based chemical production that cannot compete with petroleum derived equivalents.Sterling Bio Machines aim to revisit the bioreactor design from a first principles approach and redesign for the needs of sustainable bio-based manufacturing. Our novel bioreactor concept separates the functions required for optimum processing in a bioreactor environment to be controlled independently, providing superior control over conditions across the bioreactor volume, at all scales, enabling rapid process development from lab to commercial production scale.In collaboration with the Centre for Process Innovation (CPI), CFD modelling will be used to explore the concept by simulating a typical aerobic fermentation process VS a standard stir tank bioreactor to demonstrate the benefits for sustainable bio-based manufacturing using microorganisms.