The Working Group “Prozessanalytik” in cooperation with Siemens will award the 6th Siemens Process Analytics Prize to a young scientist for an outstanding publication in the field of Process Analytics.
In view of the present situation with COVID-19 the EuroPACT 2020 has been postponed to a later date.
Nevertheless, PAT cannot be stopped.
The EuroPACT Scientific Committee in cooperation with Siemens has awarded Björn Gutschmann for an outstanding publication in the field of Process Analytics. The prize is endowed with € 3.000 and the winner was announced by Prof. Dr. Christoph Herwig, TU Vienna / Austria during an online ceremony on June 16, 2020 from 2pm – 3pm.
In-Line Monitoring of Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) Production during High-Cell-Density Plant Oil Cultivations Using Photon Density Wave Spectroscopy.
Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are biodegradable plastic-like materials with versatile properties. Plant oils are excellent carbon sources for a cost-effective PHA production, due to their high carbon content, large availability, and comparatively low prices. Additionally, efficient process development and control is required for competitive PHA production, which can be facilitated by on-line or in-line monitoring devices. To this end, we have evaluated photon density wave (PDW) spectroscopy as a new process analytical technology for Ralstonia eutropha (Cupriavidus necator) H16 plant oil cultivations producing polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) as an intracellular polymer. PDW spectroscopy was used for in-line recording of the reduced scattering coefficient µs’ and the absorption coefficient µa at 638 nm. A correlation of µs’ with the cell dry weight (CDW) and µa with the residual cell dry weight (RCDW) was observed during growth, PHB accumulation, and PHB degradation phases in batch and pulse feed cultivations. The correlation was used to predict CDW, RCDW, and PHB formation in a high-cell-density fed-batch cultivation with a productivity of 1.65 gPHB·L−1·h−1 and a final biomass of 106 g·L−1 containing 73 wt% PHB. The new method applied in this study allows in-line monitoring of CDW, RCDW, and PHA formation.
