Background to Polyhydroxy Alkanoates (PHAs) Fermentation
PHAs are biodegradable, organic, non-toxic polyesters that are produced by certain bacteria and plants. PHA granules accumulated in the microbial cell are called carbonosomes.
They serve as storage reservoirs and hence the fermentation needs feast and famine regimes in a sequential system or in a single system. Simple fed-batch systems due to their dilution effect on the media make
it complicated to achieve targeted PHA yields, resulting in the subsequent downstream processing being less economically viable.
An alternative is to use repeated fed-batch and fed-batch with cell recycling to allow accumulation of biomass and PHAs in the biomass. There is growing interest in using mixed cultures on
mixed waste streams to reduce the costs associated with aseptic mono-culture fermentation.
Though this approach can be optimised by following the same feast and famine regime for high PHA yields, there is an issue with copolymer blends that will be produced with varying microstructure, physical,
and chemical properties causing unpredictable product quality. This can be solved by adding a pre-biomass conversion step to the PHA fermentation process and enriching the PHA accumulating bacteria by dynamic
feast and famine cultivation. Chemostats are reported to be more suitable for mixed microbial cultivation as enriched bacteria can be retained unlike batch and fed-batch fermentation where fresh bacterial inoculum is
added at every start-phase which is many times more frequent than chemo-stat systems. Unconventional substrates like gaseous substrates are being tried with unconventional PHA producers
e.g. Cyanobacteria to explore the potential of converting syngas and biogas to PHAs with or without additional carbon source in the growth media.
How Celignis Can Help
PHA is one of the most complicated fermentation processes, but the possibility to use mixed microbial cultures and avoiding sterilisation costs
makes it an interesting process to produce bioplastics. Also, PHA blends are becoming more and more popular to increase the tensile strength and flexibility
of the polymer which is possible by using mixed culture substrates.
At Celignis, we have expertise and experience in enrichment of desired microorganisms, fed-batch and continuous fermentations with cell-recycling.
We can design and develop the most suitable process for your feedstock by using mixed or mono-culture fermentations. We can also develop cost-efficient downstream
processing steps for efficient PHA extraction by using non-toxic and environmentally friendly techniques.
Our team of experts will innovate with you for you.
Lactic acid bacteria are very sensitive and require complex nutrient media compared to other bacillus species that can produce lactic acid.
Hence, industries are constantly looking for fungi and bacillus strains that have low nutrient requirements and can tolerate acidic pH.
At Celignis we have expertise and experience in screening lactic acid bacteria for the selection of substrate- and product-tolerant strains. We can also develop:
fed-batch strategies to achieve high cell mass, and in situ product recovery techniques to separate lactic acid from the fermentation broth. We will
work with you and develop bespoke lactic acid fermentation methods for your feedstock or industrial waste streams.
Propionic acid can be produced from a variety of substrates such as glucose, ethanol, lactose, glycerol, and pectin. So, several industrial streams
will be suitable to produce propionic acid, if the bacteria are adapted to the inhibitors present in the waste streams and fermentation is optimised to
achieve high cell densities and high product concentration.
We can perform anaerobic fermentations and develop fermentation strategies to achieve high cell mass and in-situ product recovery techniques.
We can screen your feedstock for propionic acid production, adapt the strain to any inhibitors present in the feed, and develop bespoke fermentation
and product recovery processes.
Butyric acid is biologically produced by Clostridium species and like other acids (acetic acid, lactic acid, propionic acid),
it is toxic to the bacteria after a certain concentration. Hence, the product titres are generally low which makes downstream expensive.
In order to reduce these costs, in situ removal of butyric acid can be developed. In situ removal strategies are not yet industrially applied for butyric acid, but
it is a key area where progress has to be made to make the process economically sustainable.
At Celignis, we have strong expertise in Clostridial fermentation. We can isolate and or adapt the strains that are suitable for your feedstock and can
develop fermentation strategies to reduce substrate and product inhibition. We will innovate with you for you.
Butanol fermentation is also one of the difficult fermentation pathways due to substrate and product inhibition. However, this can be
avoided by fed-batch fermentation and in-situ stripping of butanol. Also, reducing the feedstock and enzyme costs will make the process more
economically viable. Through using industrial waste streams (negative costs), enzymatic cocktails tailored for the feedstock (allowing low-enzyme dosages), and
with high sugar yields, the right choice of microbial strain, and an effective in-situ removal technology, it is possible to develop an economically-viable butanol process.
At Celignis, we have considerable expertise in Clostridial fermentation and especially butanol fermentation.
Our Chief Innovation Officer Dr Lalitha Gottumukkala has extensively worked in this area and has isolated novel strains and developed novel
methods for non-acetogenic butanol fermentation as part of her PhD.
Natural microbes that produce 1,3-Propanediol are Klebsiella, Clostridia, Citrobacter, Enterobacter
and Lactobacilli. They all use glycerol as a carbon source and produce 1,3 PDO through 3-hydroxypropionaldehyde route
using glycerol dehydratase enzymes and 1,3-propanediol oxidoreductase enzymes.
At Celignis, we have expertise and experience in performing anaerobic fermentations
and developing fermentation strategies to achieve high cell mass and in situ product recovery techniques. We can screen your feedstock for 1,3-Propanediol production,
adapt the strain to any inhibitors present in the feed, and develop bespoke fermentation and product recovery process.
Yeast fermentation is one of the oldest fermentations and is used in everyday life to produce a variety of commodity products including bread, beer, wine,
cheese, and soy sauce. A few decades ago, yeast gained popularity as an industrial strain for biorefinery and biofuel applications.
Algal cultivation is complicated and requires optimisation to achieve high biomass yields. Algal biomass production depends on nutrient uptake and
other environmental conditions such as temperature, pH, salt concentration etc. It is important to select the strain based on the type of
production (open ponds, photobioreactors), feedstock and application. We have particular expertise in the evaluation and optimisation of algae thorugh
our Chief Innovation Officer, Lalitha, who is currently undertaking a Marie-Curie funded project at Celignis on this topic.
We are available to answer any questions you may have on how to get high value chemicals and biofuels from biomass through fermentation processes.
Just get in touch with us by sending us an email info@celignis.com, giving us a call at (+353) 61 371 725, or through
our contact form.
€1.6m Funding Success for Celignis in 2024 CBE-JU Calls
We have secured funding for involvement in 4 collaborative research projects
We are delighted to announce that Celignis has been successful in 4 project proposals submitted for funding to the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking (CBE JU) programme.
These projects will provide funding of 1.6m EUR to Celignis over the next few years and build upon the 3 projects (worth 1.5m EUR) we secured last year and the 4 previous CBE/BBI projects that Celignis participated in.
Details on the projects are provided below:
WoodVALOR - This RIA project concerns the valorisation of contaminated/post-consumer wood waste (WW) via: (i) thermal conversion to biochar; and (ii) fractionation followed by conversions to paints & coatings ingredients. Celignis is involved in the chemo-enzymatic fractionation of decontaminated wood (DW) to sequentially extract/purify lignin and hemicellulose, and in developing hemicellulose-based emulsifiers/stabilizers and binder monomers for industrial formulations. Additionally, Celignis is involved in metals/mineral recovery from decontamination wastewater using
New Publication from a Celignis Bioprocess Development Project
The article, available in "Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery" is entitled "Process development for efficient pectin extraction from tobacco residues and its characterisation"
We are please to announce the publication of a peer-reviewed scientific article based on some of the research outputs of a Bioprocess Development Service (BDS) project undertaken by Celignis.
The article, entitled "Process development for efficient pectin extraction from tobacco residues and its characterisation" details the results of experiments targeting the optimised extraction of pectin from the laminae of a number of different varieties of tobacco plants. These tobacco-derived pectins were found to have a medium molecular weight and low methoxy content and our findings indicated that this feedstock could be suitable for the production of pectin with dietary applications.
Meeting takes place at the coordinator's (ITA) headquarters in Zaragoza, SPAIN
Celignis personnel are today attending the kick-off meeting of the CBE-JU project MANUREFINERY at the facilities of the project's coordinator (ITA) in Zaragoza, Spain.
MANUREFINERY concerns the development of a small, decentralised, modular biorefinery concept for farms that converts manure and ammonia emissions into seven marketable bio-ingredients (animal-feed proteins, caproic acid, and fertiliser salts/ashes). The solution integrates fixed/mobile units across three valorisation lines (gas, liquid, solid) and a digital twin for optimisation and scale-up, targeting TRL6-7 validation on four EU demo farms.
Celignis has a number of key roles in the project, including:
- Comprehensive analysis of the feedstocks and products of the process.
Meeting takes place at the coordinator's (AIMPLAS) headquarters in Valencia, Spain
PROMOFER, is an Innovation Action project funded by the CBE-JU, under topic HORIZON-JU-CBE-2023-IA-03 (Improve Fermentation Processes (Including Downstream Purification) To Final Bio-Based Products).
This project started in June 2024 with Celignis, an SME partner and full industry BIC member, playing a pivotal role in the project. Our core activities include undertaking the pre-treatment and hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass at scaled-up (TRL7, 1 m3) volumes. The resulting sugars are then provided to other partners for downstream fermentations.
Today Celignis's CIO Lalitha is attending the kick-off meeting of the project, at coordinator AIMPLAS's headquarters in Valencia, Spain.
We're attending the kick-off meeting for BIONEER in Trondheim, Norway (SINTEF)
Lalitha is attending the kick-off meeting of our CBE-JU project BIONEER, located at the coordinator's (SINTEF) premises in Trondheim, Norway.
BIONEER has the title "Scaled-up Production of Next-Generation Carbohydrate-Derived Building Blocks to Enhance the Competitiveness of a Sustainable European Chemicals Industry". It is a 4-year Innovation Action project with 7.5m EUR of funding provided by the CBE-JU.
Celignis plays a key role in BIONEER, being responsible for the scaled-up (TRL7) production of platform chemicals.
Thanks for contacting us. One of our representatives will be in contact with you shortly regarding your inquiry. If you ever have any questions that require immediate assistance, please call us at +353 61 371 725.
Contact Us
Thanks for contacting us. One of our representatives will be in contact with you shortly regarding your inquiry. If you ever have any questions that require immediate assistance, please call us at 319-509-3350.
Contact Us
Somthing went wrong! Please call us at
319-509-3350
or send us a email at
info@celignis.us with your enquiry.
Contact Us
Please provide a valid email id.
News letter signup
Thanks for signing our newsletter.
Newsletter
Message
Newsletter signup
Our newsletter provides monthly updates on new types of biomass analyses and articles on the development of innovative bioprocesses.
Newsletter
Subscribe to our newsletter and stay updated.
NOTE : We use cookies to improve our website and to give you the best experience. If you continue using our website, we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies on this website.