The pilot plant is the largest of the laboratories in the Department of Biotechnology and Food Microbiology. With an area that surpasses 400 square meters and equipped with specialized instruments, it enables advanced research task in the field of biotechnology and bioprocess engineering to be undertaken. It also serves as a platform for scale-up of the developed technologies which allows vital data to be obtained that can then be used to perform the techno-economical assessment (TEA) of a biotechnological process with the use of professional software (SuperPro Designer).
Essential equipment of the pilot plant includes:
- bioreactors of 0.5, 5, 30, 75 , 150 and 1500 liters volume that are suitable for the cultivation of microorganisms in a controlled environment in either aerobic or anaerobic conditions
- instruments for isolating and separating the products of biosynthesis:
- semicontinuous and continuous centrifuges
- tangential (cross-flow) and dead-end filtration units that allow the separation and concentration of bioproducts by means of micro-, ultra and nanofiltration in scales ranging from laboratory to industrial; the filtration area of the largest installation is 12 square meters
- ultrasonic, ball mill and high-pressure homogenizers to allow the disruption of cells in order to release the intracellular products of biosynthesis
- a continuous distillation column
- a solid-liquid extractor with a capacity of 25 kilograms of solid input
- a multi-vessel flocculator
- instruments for concentration and stabilization of bioproducts:
- a pilot cryoconcentration installation for concentrating thermolabile compounds
- vacuum evaporators
- spray dryers of the capacity to evaporate from 2 to 30 liters of water per hour
The air-conditioned hall of the pilot plant is also equipped in necessary technological media such as chilled water, steam, compressed air and other industrial gasses. Laminar flow cabinets, laboratory and industrial autoclaves, pumps, vessels of various volumes, mills for disintegrating wet and dry materials, mixers for liquids and bulk materials are at the disposal of the researchers. A complex security system, implemented handling procedures and thermal destruction of the effluent generated during culturing allows advanced projects that involve genetically modified microorganisms to be carried out (GMM of the 1st category).