Fermentation Facility at ISU Center for Crops Utilization Research
The Fermentation Facility is designed to help researchers to develop new fermentation and downstream processing technologies at small- and pilot-scale. The facility has equipment for scaling up the production of industrially important chemicals, food ingredients, enzymes, and microbial biomass. Researchers have access to state-of-the-art equipment and expertise in the areas of aerobic fermentation, anaerobic fermentation, gas-fermentation, and product recovery. We are offering a wide range of contractual R&D services to industry clients to assist in the development of new fermentation and downstream processing technologies at a reasonable cost.
Bench-scale Fermentation Optimization
With our expertise and a variety of small-scale fermentation systems, we provide R&D service to optimize customers’ fermentation processes. Our customers usually have proprietary microorganism strains with basic culture protocols, however, they are lacking a comprehensive study to optimize culture condition to either maximize biomass density or product titer, reduce the production cost (medium receipt input), or intensify the process (enhancing mixing and/or oxygen transfer). At CCUR, we have a variety of small scale (2-L, 5-L, 10-L, 15-L and 30-L, working volume) fermentation systems to help customers to optimize the above processes. We also have small-scale semi-continuous centrifuge, homogenizer, membrane filtration (only 1-L holding volume), and mini-spray drying, to develop DSP processes at such a small scale but are representative to large scale operation so the development cost can be reduced.
Pilot-Scale Process Development and Product Preparation
Some customers have had proprietary microorganism strains and optimized culture protocols at small scale, however, they need to scale up the process to validate their results and explore the potentials of commercialization. Sometimes, customers need to prepare a reasonable amount of representative finished products (at a few to several teens of kg scale) for their further testing. At CCUR, our very experienced research staff operate pilot scale (500-L, 1,000-L, 1,200-L, working volume) fermentation systems, and various downstream process (DSP) equipment to help customers to achieve the above goal. The information obtained from the pilot-scale study can be applied to customers’ commercialization endeavors in either their own production facility or toll manufacturing facility.
Gas Fermentation
Autotrophically-based gas fermentation (with CO2 or CO being used as carbon sources) is gaining renewed interests. At CCUR, we have expertise and infrastructure to develop and optimize the gas fermentation process (up to 30-L, working volume). Our explosion proof gas storage, transfering, and mixing system can deliver mixed gasses into fermenter vessels in a very safe way. The offgas compositions are fully analyzed through a Mass-Spectrum based analyzer.
Development of Downstream Processes
Occasionally, customers develop their pilot-scale fermentation in another facility but use our facility for the DSP development. With our diverse unit operation equipment (centrifuges, membrane filtraters, homogenizer, chromatography systems pasteurizer, spray dryer and freeze dryer), we are helping customers to achieve this goal.
