MiAlgae – Clarification Services for Microalgae Fermentation Broth

Neil Renault in Flexbio facility

Introduction

MiAlgae is an innovative Edinburgh-based biotech company working at the intersection of industrial by-products and high-value microalgal biomass. They repurpose nutrient-rich co-products (for example, from the whisky industry) to grow omega-3-rich microalgae for aquaculture and pet-food applications.

Challenge

MiAlgae needed to process approximately 150 litres of Class 1 microalgae fermentation broth as part of their due diligence of different downstream technologies to meet their dewatering and harvesting needs.

Solution

The team collaborated with the Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre’s (IBioIC) FlexBIO facility on a short-term project. The work involved clarification using disc-stack centrifugation, supported by full cleaning-in-place (CIP) procedures and comprehensive post-run cleaning and disinfection by the FlexBIO team.

IBioIC’s FlexBIO team provided technical support around equipment operation, CIP procedures and waste handling associated with the clarification step. This enabled MiAlgae to compare performance of this clarification route in a preparative context and to gather data supporting subsequent scale choices.

Outcome

The work delivered by IBioIC offered MiAlgae a high-value data set on large-volume clarification of their microalgal broth, enabling them to refine their downstream strategy, de-risk scale considerations and move forward with confidence towards full scale-up operations.