The HerbiSens project will make a direct contribution to the above-mentioned strategies by identifying herbicidal renewable raw materials (natural substances) to expand the range of active ingredients that can be used. Studies on herbicidal activity are usually carried out with whole plant extracts and their effect on the germination behaviour of weeds is determined. The active ingredients and mechanisms are often not known. Other existing methods have serious disadvantages: fluorescence interaction, the need for formulation and the need for the isolation of individual active ingredients. 

The ‘HerbiSens’ project focuses on known targets such as photosystem II, which are mapped using innovative biosensors with high throughput potential. Correlating the inhibition data with data from the analysis using modern metabolomics methods will enable the identification of active natural substances. In addition, the spectrum of target structures that can be mapped using biosensors to identify herbicidal natural substances will be extended to include the shikimate pathway.

Myristic acid is an ingredient in numerous cleaning agents and cosmetics. It is either produced synthetically or by processing palm kernel oil. Both have a significantly negative CO₂ fingerprint, although palm kernel oil is a natural, plant-based product. It should be noted that in the tropics, primary rainforest is being cleared on a large scale to expand the plantations. This forest urgently needs to be preserved as a biodiversity reservoir and climate regulator.

A process that would be based on the use of oleic acid, which is available in large quantities in European oilseeds such as rapeseed or sunflower, could contribute significantly to the change in raw materials used in the production of cleaning agents and cosmetics. The conversion of oleic acid to myristic acid is a process that is to be achieved by isomerising and catalytic oxidation.

The research project aims to develop a catalyst that allows the double bond present in oleic acid to be shifted and simultaneously oxidised. The products will then be cleaned and incorporated into formulations to test whether and how the cleaning effect is achieved.

Against the background of high environmental pollution and a high energy input in the construction industry, innovative products for interior finishing are to be developed and their acceptance investigated. By adding plant fibres and foams, the weight of clay building boards is to be reduced and lighter, natural fibre-reinforced clay building boards are to be developed. The requirements of craftsmen and consumers for such boards will also be analysed. Specific project objectives are:

1. Investigating the feasibility of natural fibre-reinforced clay foams made from renewable raw materials to reduce the weight of clay building board.
2. Development of lighter, natural fibre-reinforced clay building boards on this basis
3. Analysing the interest of builders and craftsmen in such clay building boards
4. Creation of information material for the building materials trade and craftsmen on earth building boards and lighter earth building boards based on plant fibre-reinforced foams

The large-scale production of polyphenols is of growing interest, as synthetic antioxidants will be increasingly banned in the EU in the coming years and are already being increasingly rejected by consumers. During the production of an ethanolic hop extract for the brewing industry, the so-called tannin extract is produced as a residue, which is a promising source of polyphenols and is not yet being utilised in an economically viable way. As part of this project, the residual material is to be purified and formulated as a source of natural antioxidants in cosmetics and foods as a stabiliser, preservative or due to its positive effect on health.

The development of bacterial strains and process methods to produce isobutanol from industrial waste streams, specifically using wheat straw hydrolysate is one of the aspects of the project. The purpose of the work is to develop a more sustainable route for isobutanol production using different strains of Corynebacterium glutamicum. Additionally, testing, development and establishing of in-situ product removal methods is another aspect of the project. 

The research focuses on having optimal control of industrial fermentation processes that are affected by batch-to-batch fluctuations when using hydrolysates derived from agricultural residues. Unlocking the full potential of bioprocess data, enabling faster troubleshooting, enhancing process automation and reducing the need for time-consuming and costly offline measurements by development of continuously trained, validated and improved hybrid model-based soft-sensors is the key objective. The process control involves the combination of real-time data from hardware sensors with specifically designed models to predict non-measurable parameters online.

This research project deals with the production, scale-up and downstream processing of biopolymers and exopolysaccharides from different microbial strains for various applications involving sustainable materials or methods. Development of such products has certain hurdles like downstream process of the viscous broth, sensitivity of the products to water and environmental conditions, scale-up, etc. when considering commercial application currently. Overcoming such hurdles and development of sustainable biodegradable materials is the main aim of the research.

Specific biotechnological production processes experience a viscosity increase of the reaction media as the product concentration increases. This is especially important for microbial biopolymer production where oxygen transfer becomes limiting as the fermentation reaction advances. The aim of this research project is to improve and innovate conventional reactor systems for such applications by use of additive manufacturing (AM) and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) as testing platforms. The work focuses on specific stage optimization including final product recovery, while prioritizing the economic viability of the whole manufacturing process.

The aim of this project is to convert methanol, which can be produced from CO₂, into antioxidant substances in the form of a fermentative process. These are particularly important for the feed industry to stabilise feed with increased fat content. The aim of this research is to develop and optimise a methanol-based production process, which consists of fermentation with the microorganism Saccharomyces cerevisiae and the subsequent processing of the target substances. The project includes economic feasibility studies from the beginning to ensure economic viability.

The Transfer network for Boosting Industrial Bioeconomy (TransBIB), funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection (BMWK) aims to reduce Germany’s dependence on non-renewable resources by facilitating faster transfer of biotechnological production processes from the lab into industrial scale. BVT supports TransBIB by generating process simulations for the up-scaling of biotechnological production processes. In addition, a database on capital and operating costs of industrial scale facilities will be established. Finally, the project aims to support start-ups and small and medium enterprises in scaling up by sharing information on the necessary permits, procedures and timelines to be considered when designing and building such facilities.

CirculH2 project, funded by the European Research Executive Agency (REA), aims to demonstrate the successful development of one or more highly robust and scalable hydrogenases for the use of H₂ that selectively drives biotransformation of bio-based materials to specialty and commodity chemicals in an industrial environment. The technology aims to replace the heavily used conventional chemical production methods and enable the decarbonization of industrial biotechnology. BVT develops the industrial-scale production of FeFe-hydrogenase within the CirculH2 project. This will involve upscaling the fermentation of E. coli, which serves as the source of our resilient hydrogenase enzyme. 

Efficient fermentation processes are of particular importance for industrial biotechnology. A so-called soft sensor is to be developed for this purpose as part of the doctoral project. This is intended to optimise the control of the bioprocess and thus enable maximum yields in minimum fermentation time. The SoftSensor will continuously measure process parameters based on modelling, which cannot be measured directly using conventional hardware sensors. The project includes a practical fermentation part with Escherichia coli and a theoretical programming part.