Evaluation of process integration for the intensification of a biotechnological process

Process intensification is a well-known and established method to improve ecological and economic efficiency of large-scale chemical processes. Process intensification in form of integrating an in-situ product or intermediate removal can also improve processes. In this study the effects of integrating an intermediate separation in form of an extraction centrifuge and a product separation in form of a pre-purification into a multi-enzyme cascade as well as the potential for further process integration in form of a reactive extraction centrifuge are analyzed for a biotechnological process. In order to evaluate the application of process integration, different process configurations are compared regarding to the efficiency using a model-based approach. Although the highly integrated process leads to lower space-time yields in some cases, an operating window can be identified in which the spacetime yield is significantly higher compared to a sequential process. In order to distinguish both cases and thus choose a suitable operating point simulative studies are required. Moreover, a potential for further integration can be identified for the reference process studied in this work.

Automated summary

The study analyzes the effects and potential for further process integration of integrating an extraction centrifuge for intermediate separation and pre-purification for product separation in a multi-enzyme cascade. Different process configurations are compared using a model-based approach to evaluate efficiency, identifying a significant increase in space-time yield within a certain operating window for the highly integrated process.