Computational modeling and optimization of biopharmaceutical downstream processes

Vaccination is a strong and effective way to prevent spreading of infectious diseases and promotes global health. In the future, the importance of vaccines is expected only to increase, driven by factors such as increased international traveling, higher healthcare expenditures, and a growing population. To meet the growing demands, it is...

Using artificial neural networks to accelerate flowsheet optimization for downstream process development

An optimal purification process for biopharmaceutical products is important to meet strict safety regulations, and for economic benefits. To find the global optimum, it is desirable to screen the overall design space. Advanced model-based approaches enable to screen a broad range of the design-space, in contrast to traditional statistical or...

Recent advances to accelerate purification process development: A review with a focus on vaccines

The safety requirements for vaccines are extremely high since they are administered to healthy people. For that reason, vaccine development is time-consuming and very expensive. Reducing time-to-market is key for pharmaceutical companies, saving lives and money. Therefore the need is raised for systematic, general and efficient process...

Continuous adsorption in food industry: The recovery of sinapic acid from rapeseed meal extract

Efficient recovery and utilization of valuable components from industrial food side streams is a main driver towards a circular economy. Among different available purification techniques, adsorption can effectively recover these components. However, the conventional batch mode of operation can limit its applicability in food processes due to...

Effect of admixture on the pore structure refinement and enhanced performance of alkali-activated fly ash-slag concrete

This paper investigates the influence of a plasticizing admixture on the pore structure refinement of alkali-activated concrete and paste mixtures and the consequently enhanced performance. Alkali-activated fly ash-slag concrete and paste are designed using a polycarboxylate-based admixture with different dosages. The pore structure and...

Waste glass as partial mineral precursor in alkali-activated slag/fly ash system

The feasibility of a waste glass powder residue (GP) from glass recycling as partial mineral precursor to produce alkali-activated materials is investigated. GP served as powder coal fly ash (PCFA) replacement within a reference system composed of 50% PCFA and 50% ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS). Compared with PCFA, GP was better...

Membrane distillation against a pressure difference

Membrane distillation is an attractive technology for production of fresh water from seawater. The MemPower®MemPower® concept, studied in this work, uses available heat (86 °C) to produce pressurized water (2.2 bar and 46 °C) by membrane distillation, which again can be used to power a turbine for co-production of electricity. We develop a non...

Experimental study on workability of alkali activated fly ash and slag-based geopolymer concretes

This paper presents an investigation on workability and strength of geopolymer concrete made of fly ash (FA), blast furnace slag (BFS) and a multicompound activator of Na2SiO3 and NaOH solutions. The FA/BFS ratios were 100:0, 70:30, 60:40, 50:50, 40:60, 30:70 and 0:100. The workability of geopolymer concretes was performed by using slump test...