Biorefineries are set to become an important agent in the shift towards a circular economy due to their potential to valorize organic wastes into marketable products. Anaerobic fermentations yielding volatile fatty acids (VFA) are a key process in this biorefinery paradigm as VFA act as intermediates between the organic wastes and the final biorefinery products. However, the development of a new bioprocess based on mixed-culture fermentation is an extremely challenging task. Targeting the desired product requires finding a certain region in a very large operational space, which includes different pH, retention time, operation mode and substrate composition (including the possibility of using a defined mixture several substrates). This research line is a joint venture between mathematical model development and experimental research, aiming at providing an integral method for model-aided design of a novel bioprocess using mixed-culture fermentation.
Web page: https://biogroup.usc.es/programme32
Funding details: