To scale-up the bioprocesses based on micro-organisms the main points to address at present are the production costs which are closely related to the water management (for instance, in the case of micro-algae, the concentration process cost may represent almost 30% of the production cost). Thus, the main objective of this post-doctoral study is to remove the water which is present in large amounts with an innovative device. We propose to investigate concentration methods based on ultrasonic devices. The particle-concentration technique based on the use of ultrasonic field is already known in simple geometries. We propose to design and to test an innovative continuous concentration device at lab-scale which will be scalable at industrial level. The concentration efficiency as well as the energy consumption will be assessed and compared to classical technologies (centrifugation for instance). For that purpose the operating and design parameters will be optimized and the scale-up will be addressed with modeling tools. The tasks are as follows: literature review on micro-organisms concentration techniques, design of the concentration device, experimental tests of the system (calibration of both the ultrasonic field and the measurement equipment, the parametric study, the performance analysis), numerical modeling to assist the scale-up process and optimization of the device performances.

This position is open until it is filled.

Département: Département Thermique Biomasse et Hydrogène (LITEN)
Start Date: 01-06-2015
ECA Code: PsD-DRT-15-0011
Contact: zoe.minvielle<στο>cea.fr