Fermentation Process Optimization
Our company specializes in providing professional fermentation process optimization services for the bioprocessing industry. With a highly skilled technical team, state-of-the-art laboratory facilities and equipment, innovative methodologies and tools, and extensive industry experience, we are dedicated to helping our clients improve fermentation efficiency and product quality, reduce costs, and achieve process optimization. Our services cover various aspects, including strain optimization, media optimization, fermentation parameter optimization, process monitoring, and troubleshooting, providing comprehensive solutions to support our clients in achieving greater success in the bioproducts market.
Why Optimize the Fermentation Process?
The bioproducts market demands efficient fermentation processes to manage costs while improving product quality and production efficiency. The fermentation process hinges on several linked factors which consist of strain traits and media composition along with fermentation parameters including temperature and pH levels and dissolved oxygen concentrations. ), and the integration with downstream purification processes. The fermentation process which has not been optimized can face several challenges.
Unstable Yield: Fermentation processes face instability when strains do not consistently express the target product and this inconsistency causes batch-to-batch variability which makes large-scale production hard to maintain.
High Costs: Inefficient media formulations and fermentation conditions generate material waste and consume more energy which prolongs fermentation cycles thereby increasing production expenses and damaging market competitiveness.
Inconsistent Product Quality: Small changes in fermentation conditions affect bioactivity, purity, and stability which creates difficulties in achieving quality standards and complicates quality control and improvement processes.
Our fermentation process optimization services perform thorough evaluations of your fermentation system and adjust each stage to help you tackle these difficulties. Our optimized fermentation operations deliver efficiency and stability while reducing costs to support your product's market distinction.
Our Services
Strain Optimization Services
Strain Screening: We collect a diverse range of microbial samples from natural sources and apply advanced isolation and purification techniques to identify wild-type strains with high production potential. Additionally, we assess the performance of your existing production strains to explore possible optimization opportunities.
Strain Mutagenesis and Improvement: Using physical, chemical, and biological mutagenesis techniques, we induce targeted mutations in selected strains. Through efficient screening methods, such as high-throughput screening, we rapidly identify and select superior mutant strains with significantly enhanced production yields and quality.
Strain Preservation and Stability Testing: We offer professional strain preservation services to ensure the long-term viability and stability of optimized strains. Regular stability testing is conducted to detect and prevent strain degradation, ensuring uninterrupted production.
Culture Medium Optimization Services
Composition Analysis and Formulation Design: We perform comprehensive compositional analysis of existing culture medium to evaluate the impact of each component on strain growth and product synthesis. Based on metabolic pathway analysis and nutritional requirements, we design multiple optimized formulations, balancing carbon sources, nitrogen sources, inorganic salts, vitamins, and other essential nutrients.
Optimization Experiments at Small-Scale, Pilot, and Production Levels: We conduct optimization experiments at various fermentation scales to determine the most effective culture medium formulation. Our precise experimental design and data analysis maximize target product yield while considering cost efficiency and raw material availability.
Adaptability Testing: Optimized culture media undergo adaptability testing to ensure stable performance across different fermentation equipment, process conditions, and production environments, providing reliable support for large-scale manufacturing.
Fermentation Parameter Optimization Services
Temperature Optimization: We study microbial growth curves, metabolite accumulation, and enzyme activity changes under different temperature conditions to determine the optimal fermentation temperature range, achieving a balance between cell growth and product synthesis to enhance fermentation efficiency and yield.
pH Optimization: By analyzing the impact of pH on metabolic pathways and product stability, we implement buffer system adjustments and online pH control technologies to precisely regulate pH conditions, creating an environment conducive to optimal product synthesis.
Dissolved Oxygen Optimization: Based on strain-specific oxygen requirements, we examine the relationship between dissolved oxygen levels and product formation rates. By optimizing parameters such as agitation speed and aeration rate, we ensure adequate and stable oxygen supply during fermentation, preventing metabolic imbalances and energy wastage caused by oxygen deficiency or excess.
Feeding Strategy Optimization: We develop rational feeding strategies to dynamically supplement nutrients according to strain growth and product synthesis demands. By maintaining optimal nutrient concentrations throughout fermentation, we extend the high-yield phase and further improve production yield and efficiency.
Process Monitoring and Troubleshooting Services
Integration of Online Monitoring Systems: We integrate advanced online monitoring systems into your fermentation equipment to continuously track key parameters such as temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen concentration, metabolite levels, and cell density. This real-time visualization of fermentation processes enables early detection of anomalies and timely alerts.
Data Analysis and Fault Diagnosis: Using professional data analysis tools, we process and analyze real-time monitoring data to build fault diagnosis models. These models enable quick and accurate identification of fermentation issues, such as microbial contamination, metabolic imbalances, or equipment failures, providing effective troubleshooting solutions.
Technical Support and Training: Our expert team offers technical support to assist with resolving fermentation-related challenges.
Upstream Process Optimization
We focus on the upstream fermentation process by optimizing strain characteristics, culture medium formulations, and fermentation conditions, providing clients with efficient and stable fermentation solutions. Our services include strain screening and improvement, culture medium optimization, fermentation parameter adjustments, and process monitoring, helping clients achieve higher yields, lower costs, and superior fermentation products, thus laying a solid foundation for downstream processes.
Downstream Process Optimization
We focus on optimizing the entire process from the separation and purification of fermentation products to the refinement of the final product. Through advanced technologies and customized solutions, we help clients increase product yield and purity, reduce production costs, shorten production cycles, and ensure product quality remains stable and reliable, meeting industry standards and market demands. Our services cover process design, technical development, pilot-scale production, and production technical support, assisting clients in achieving efficient, cost-effective, and sustainable downstream production processes.
Fermentation Purification Service
We specialize in the efficient extraction and purification of target products from fermentation broth, ensuring high purity and high-quality products. With advanced separation and purification technologies such as chromatography, membrane separation, and ion exchange, we offer customized solutions from laboratory scale to large-scale production. Our services cover the purification of various bioproducts from fermentation, including proteins, enzymes, and organic acids, catering to the needs of different industries.
Customized Service
According to different fermentation end products and fermentation scale requirements, our engineers provide customized industrialization solutions covering the entire front and late stages.
Comprehensive Fermentation Process Optimization Solutions
We offer multi-scale optimization of fermentation process (multi-parameter online detection and analysis, computer integrated control technology, frequency conversion control technology, mass spectrometry online analysis and tracking).
Our Capability
We have high end production and processing equipment, including fermentation tanks of different sizes, continuous sterilization, multiple aseptic feed lines, and separation and purification equipment.
- Lab-scale: equipped with 5L to 200L fermentation tanks imported or domestic source.
- Pilot-scale and Commercial-scale: equipped with fully automatic fermentation tanks of different volumes to 12,000L.
- Commercial scale: Fermentation tanks of 10-120 m3
- 4 Manufacturing sites
- 40+ reactors of from 30-4000 L, 170+ reactors from 20 KL to 30 KL, 24+ reactors of >100 KL
- 2 Hydrogenation reactors (200 L, 4Mpa and 1000L, 4Mpa)
Technical Advantages
1. Professional Technical Team
Our team is composed of experts with profound expertise and extensive practical experience in the field of fermentation engineering, including microbiologists, biochemists, fermentation engineers, and data analysts. With years of research and hands-on experience in strain selection, media optimization, fermentation process development, and scale-up, we provide precise and efficient technical solutions tailored to your needs.
2. Advanced Experimental Facilities and Equipment
Our company is equipped with state-of-the-art fermentation research facilities and analytical instruments, including multiple fermenters of various capacities (ranging from lab-scale to pilot-scale), high-precision online monitoring systems (for temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, and metabolic product analysis), advanced cell separation and purification equipment, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), gas chromatography (GC), and mass spectrometry (MS). These cutting-edge tools offer robust hardware support for our fermentation process optimization services, ensuring the accuracy and reliability of experimental data.
3. Innovative Technologies and Tools
We stay at the forefront of fermentation engineering by continuously adopting and applying innovative technologies and tools. The integration of these advanced techniques enables us to deeply analyze fermentation processes, achieve precise optimization, and implement efficient process control, delivering a significant competitive advantage for your product development and manufacturing.
4. Extensive Industry Experience and Proven Success
Over the years, we have provided high-quality fermentation process optimization services to clients worldwide in industries such as biopharmaceuticals, food fermentation, and biochemicals, accumulating extensive industry experience and a wealth of successful case studies. Our services cover various fields, including antibiotics, amino acids, organic acids, enzyme preparations, and biofuels. By tailoring solutions based on each client's unique needs and product characteristics, we help achieve significant improvements in fermentation processes and substantial economic benefits.
Our Service Process
1. Needs Assessment & Consultation
Engage in in-depth discussions with you to understand your product characteristics, current fermentation processes, optimization goals (such as yield improvement, cost reduction, or quality enhancement), as well as production scale and timeline requirements.
Collect and analyze your existing fermentation-related data, including strain information, media formulations, fermentation parameter records, and product analysis reports, to identify initial optimization entry points.
2. Experiment Design & Strategy Development
Based on the assessment results, we develop customized fermentation optimization strategies using advanced experimental design methodologies (such as response surface optimization and genetic algorithms) combined with our extensive industry expertise.
The strategy includes strain screening and improvement approaches, optimized media formulations, fermentation parameter optimization ranges, as well as process monitoring and data analysis methods to ensure a scientific, systematic, and feasible optimization plan.
3. Experiment Execution & Data Collection
Conduct fermentation experiments in our fully equipped laboratories following the predefined optimization plan. Our expert technicians adhere to standardized protocols to ensure precise control of experimental conditions and accurate data collection.
Utilize advanced fermentation equipment and real-time monitoring systems to track key fermentation parameters, such as temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen concentration, and metabolite levels, while periodically sampling for offline analysis to obtain comprehensive fermentation data.
4. Data Analysis & Results Evaluation
Employ professional data analysis software and tools to perform in-depth data mining and establish mathematical models to reveal the relationships between fermentation factors and their effects on product yield and quality.
Evaluate the effectiveness of the optimization strategies based on the analysis results, identify the optimal fermentation conditions, and provide you with detailed reports and result interpretations, ensuring clarity and confidence in the optimization process.
5. Process Scale-Up
Gradually scale up the optimized fermentation process from pilot scale to production scale, ensuring stability and reproducibility across different production scales. Our technical team closely monitors the scale-up process, promptly addressing any challenges.
FAQ
1. How is the optimization goal for the fermentation process determined?
The optimization goal is determined based on the client's specific needs and product characteristics. Common objectives include increasing the yield and productivity of target products, reducing production costs, improving product quality and stability, and shortening fermentation cycles.
2. How long does fermentation process optimization take?
The duration depends on multiple factors, such as the complexity of the fermentation system, the difficulty of the optimization target, and the scale of experiments. Generally, the entire process—from initial experiments to finalizing the optimization plan and completing scale-up validation—can take anywhere from several weeks to several months.
3. How can the stability of the optimized process be ensured in large-scale production?
We conduct stepwise scale-up validation at pilot and production scales, analyzing differences in mass transfer, heat transfer, and mixing. Process parameters are adjusted and optimized accordingly to ensure stability and reproducibility across different scales. Additionally, we provide detailed operating guidelines and training to help your production team master the optimized process efficiently.
