Bioreactors

Open mixed culture systems fully equipped acquisition and control of pH, temperature and dissolved oxygen, monitored and control through programing logic controllers. One system with lamp for photofermentation.

Set of Sartorius bioreactor systems

Pilot plant facility

	- 1 up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket reactorwith up to 100L operating volume, to perform the acidogenic fermentation; - 1 sequencing batch reactor type with up to 100L operating volume, to perform the microbial selection; - 1 fed-batch reactor type with up to 50L operating volume, to perform the production of biopolymers; - CEPA® Z 41 High-Speed Tubular Centrifuge;

Analytical tools

HPLC systems	GC systems	Total Organic Analyser (TOC)	Segmented Flow Analyser (Skalar)

Culture manipulation and mixed culture characterisation tools

Mixed microbial cultures are characterised mostly through molecular tools.

• Fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) with epifluorescence microscopy and confocal laser scanning microscope
• Quantitative real time PCR and reverse transcriptase PCR,
• Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE)
• Cloning/sequencing and amplicon preparation for high throughput sequencing.

Modelling tools

Mathematical modelling of wastewater treatment processes and other biotechnological processes is performed using various software packages, such as Aquasim  GPS-X Modelling is performed for process design and optimisation, and new models are developed within the BIOENG group.