Fermentation Process Optimization

Even today, the significance of fermentation, a technologically advanced process, is very relevant, since it plays an integral role in producing food products. Fermentation is essential in developing novel and sustainable food items such as dairy products, alcoholic drinks, plant-based proteins, and other unique ingredients. Nonetheless, there is increasing global demand for products that are affordable and of good quality. As a result, there is a great need to optimize fermentation processes.

FPO (Fermentation Process Optimization) services increase overall performance, productivity, and sustainability of industrial fermentation systems, and is offered as a multidisciplinary service by CD BioSciences. Food manufacturers can achieve specific goals that correspond with global sustainability strategies in regards to operational excellence through the implementation of advanced biotechnologies, data analytics, and other engineering disciplines in food production.

Fig 1. Optimization and Scale-Up of Fermentation Processes (Du Y.H., 2022)

Service Overview

This step involves every single stage of the fermentation life cycle: refinement of the target product, bioprocessing, and waste disposal strategies. Thus, we offer FPO services as a complete system solution.

• Strain Selection & Metabolic Engineering
• Bioreactor Design & Parameter Optimization
• Real-time control and monitoring systems
• Efficient downstream processing
• Waste treatment and integration of circular economy principles.

Retrofit projects and scaling production from the laboratory to the industrial level are within reach through the help of our knowledgeable specialists who utilize effective data-based approaches designed to raise efficiency and reduce resource usage, while attaining a lower carbon emission footprint.

Technical Principles

Optimization of fermentation processes depends on the relationship that exists between microbial physiology, substrate kinetics, and the process’s manipulating factors. We take advantage of:

• Microbial Metabolic Flux Analysis: Metabolic pathways which include glycolisis or TCA cycle have to be mapped out to locate the limiting step associated with the consumption of the substratum or the production of the required product. Enhanced yield strain constructions can be accomplished with tools such as 13C isotope tracing and genomic scale metabolic modeling.
• Bioreactor Dynamics: Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models microorganism activity with the required nutrients in terms of increasing agitation, aeration and heating of water to the required temperature. We achieve a compromise between the rate of transfer of oxygen (OTR) and the degree of mixing to avoid shear stress or oxygen limitation.

• Process Analytical Technology (PAT): Sensors in-line with AI-powered analytics keep track of the pH, dissolved oxygen, biomass, and metabolite concentrations and monitor them in real time. Deviation prediction and automated correction is performed using machine learning solutions with algorithms.
• Lifecycle Assessment (LCA): We measure the  environmental burden in terms of energy, water, and emission throughout the life cycle of the fermentation process in order to steer decisions towards net-zero emissions.

Technical Features

• High-Throughput Screening: Weekend robotic platforms can examine more than 1,000 variants of the strains and media compositions in a week.
• Adaptive Control Systems: Self-optimizing control of bioreactors is achieved with feedback systems because they adjust internal conditions automatically.
• Hybrid Fermentation Models: Predictive scaling kinetic models with AI components.
• Waste-to-Resource Integration: Spent media and other byproducts are transformed into biogas or fertilizers.

Technical Categories

The functional principles of operation are stratified into three levels:

Strain-Level Optimization

• Gene Editing Methods Modification: Modify strains for increased substrate specificities and/or enhanced stress tolerance.
• Co-Culture Systems: Microbial consortia with specialized synergistic functions decomposition of complex substrates.

Process-Level Optimization

• Target-Promoter Pairing: Fed-Batch versus Continuous Fermentation systems selection and optimization depending on  their outputs.
• Sugar-rich Media: Nutrient pulsing as a means to alleviate repression during m. semi-continuous batch culture.

System-Level Optimization

• Biorefinery: Fermentation coupled Biorefinery.
• Heat Recovery: Utilization of waste heat occurring during steam sterilization or distillation of the fermentation broth for energy.

Application Areas

The developed technologies can be applied to all branches of food industry processing:

• Dairy Products: The extraction of lactobacilli/yeast for plant cheese, yogurt, and kefir preparation, as well as Lactobacillus-based cheese.
• Beverages: Increasing the amount of ethanol in beer, wine, and kombucha.
• Meat Alternatives: Fermentation of mycoprotein and algal biomass for the production of meat analogs.
• Postbiotic compounds: Enzymes and vitamins, for example amylases are  proprietary.
• Agricultural waste: Whey, bagasse and other agro-industrial byproducts transformed into useful materials.

Environmental Benefits

• Direct energy savings: Efficient designs of bioreactors result in 20-40% energy savings on HVAC and agitation, not including primary energy carrier costs.
• Water savings: Closed-loop systems for 70-90% recycling of process water.
• Waste reduction: Up to 95% organic waste diversion from landfills.
• Reduced use of fossil fuels: Use of anaerobic digestion of fermentation byproducts reduces the need to burn fossil fuels.

Our Services

We support from start to finish with:

• Techno-Economic Analysis (TEA): We model fermentation processes using tools like SuperPro Designer and OpenLCA to forecast CAPEX/OPEX, ROI, and environmental impacts. Analyses include substrate economics, carbon accounting, and regulatory compliance.
• Pilot-Scale Trials: 50–1,000L Bioreactor Validations: Our trials use systems to validate scalability, optimizing pH, aeration, and shear stress.
• PAT Implementation: IoT Sensor Networks: We install Raman spectroscopy probes, biomass sensors, and edge-computing devices for real-time metabolite tracking. Data integrates into AWS IoT dashboards, enabling AI-driven anomaly detection.

Company Service Advantages

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Fermentation process optimization is a corporate strategy necessity and not an option. In a world plagued with climate change and scarcity of resources, CD BioSciences integrates biotechnologies with environmentally responsible practices to protect the future of food production systems.

Clients do not just expect incremental efficiency improvement when partnering with us. They expect investments towards a circular and low-carbon economy that valorizes all substrate grams, optimizes all kilowatt hours, and produces innovation and caring branded products.

Turn your fermentation systems into engines of profit with sustainable results. Contact us today.

How to Place an Order

Our products and services are for research use only and cannot be used for any clinical purposes.