Unit 1. Biotechnology for Biobased Products

• Why develop a biobased economy?
• Industrial biotechnology
• Feedstocks - renewable sources of biomass for biobased products
• Process to produce bio-PDO (1,3-Propanediol)
• Benefits for society and sustainability - evaluating the effects of biobased production

Unit 2. Balances and Microbial Rates

• Microorganisms and their function in nature
• Functional understanding of nutrient requirements for microbial growth
• Learning about the process: Broth balances
• Learning about the process: Gas phase balances
• Learning about the microorganism: q-rates and chemostat
• Learning about the process and organism

Unit 3. The Black Box Model and Process Reaction

• The process reaction
• Basics of the black box model
• Energy consuming and energy producing products
• A PDO black box model: experiments for parameter identification
• Black box models: The PDO process reaction as function of μ
• PDO continuous process design: calculation of inputs and outputs using the process reaction
• Aerobic PDO process: improving sustainability
• Introduction to Metabolic Flux Analysis

Unit 4. Fermentation Design

• Introduction to fermentation technology
• The large-scale fermenter
• Fermenter operation
• Gas transport
• Heat transport
• Mixing
• Basic approach to design and then optimize a PDO fermentation process

Unit 5. Up- and Down-stream process integration

• Towards an integrated bioprocess
• Pre-treatment
• Separation and formulation
• Separation principles
• Conceptual process design for 1,3 PDO production
• Process integration for 1,3 PDO production

Unit 6. Process Evaluation and Sustainability

• Designing a sustainable business case
• Economics of a process design
• Environmental assessment of a process design
• Social sustainability
• Sustainability in a global context