Engineering Biology for Climate Resilience
The world is facing a climate emergency, with global warming projected to exceed the critical 1.5°C threshold by 2035. Achieving sustainable, net-zero practices in the chemicals manufacturing sector, currently the third-largest consumer of fossil resources and carbon emitter, is essential to mitigating climate change. Engineering biology-powered biotechnological manufacturing offers a promising, environmentally friendly alternative to fossil-based production. However, two major challenges hinder its scalability: 1) difficulty competing with fossil-based manufacturing in cost-effective volume production, and 2) low volumetric productivity, largely due to reliance on stirred-tank bioreactors.
Dr Jordan MacInnes and Dr Esther Karunakaran, researchers from the University of Sheffield, have developed and patented a compact, high-performance continuous bioreactor using a rotating spiral format and biofilm as a biocatalyst.
This innovative design offers two key advantages: 1) its inherent potential to achieve scale up from the R&D lab to manufacturing in a single step, and 2) demonstrated 75-fold increase in volumetric productivity. Unilever Ltd has submitted a patent for the use of this technology for the manufacture of ingredients for home and personal care products.
This bioreactor not only boosts productivity in existing biotechnological processes but also enables the sustainable production of new chemical classes previously considered too complex for conventional methods. It supports the UK’s bioeconomy and accelerates the transition to a net-zero carbon economy.
Dr Jordan MacInnes from the University of Sheffield said,
“Prior to the support from NBIC we had little more than an idea for the rotating spiral channel bioreactor and some proof-of-concept results for a bacteria biofilm producing lactic acid using a research device designed for fluid phase contacting. Funding from NBIC directly supported the design, construction and preliminary testing of two prototype reactors, which represent a credible blueprint for commercially viable reactors”.
Initial prototypes, developed with NBIC support, have placed the team in a good position to move towards commercialisation. Tests demonstrated 15x productivity increase of conventional stirred tank bioreactors and this has steadily increased with optimisation and added functionality, now standing at 75x. This progress led to participation in commercialisation programmes, including ICURe Discover and Explore. The team have also received funding from SynbiCITE that is allowing them to run tests for potential customers.
The team envisage that their first commercial reactor will be lab-scale, matching the output of a 10L stirred-tank reactor but with a smaller footprint and scalable performance. The team is engaging with several SMEs who have expressed strong interest in the technology and are moving forward with case-study testing using the prototype reactors.