Plenaries
Susana Valencia
ITQ / CSIC, Valencia
Revealing the Potential of Zeolites: Enhancing Solutions for Separation Processes
Biography
José Paulo Mota
FCT/UNL, Lisboa
Continuous Chromatographic Downstream Processing of Biopharmaceuticals
Biography
Gas and vapour separations can be complex and energy-intensive, driving the search for more sustainable options. The use of porous materials as selective adsorbents has been proposed as a very efficient solution. Zeolites, in particular, can be tailored to meet the specific needs of these separations, maximizing unit production and diminishing energy demand.
This presentation aims to show how zeolites can be applied in different separations, such as those involving CO2 adsorption and other processes where all silica zeolites can perform successfully. Examples include separations of olefins from paraffins, separations of linear and monobranched from multibranched alkanes, and the recovery of bioalcohols from fermentation media by vapour phase adsorption processes.
These examples illustrate how the properties of zeolites influence adsorption processes and how these properties can be modified to be adapted to the required separation with the objective of enhancing productivity and selectivity using these materials as selective adsorbents.
Continuous manufacturing has seen widespread adoption across various industries, yet its integration into biotechnology has been met with hesitation, as traditional batchwise processing remains the norm. However, transitioning to continuous operations holds immense potential to enhance productivity and significantly reduce the operational footprint. Furthermore, continuous processes enable robust purification of delicate biomolecules, facilitated by a comprehensive suite of unit operations tailored for continuous downstream processing in biopharmaceuticals. Of these operations, chromatography stands out as particularly advanced in continuous mode, having resolved the inherent challenges associated with batch definitions. This advancement not only streamlines regulatory compliance but also paves the way for broader implementation of continuous downstream processing. The impetus for embracing continuous manufacturing strategies in the future will be driven by economic pressures, operational flexibility, and considerations for parametric release. A straightforward approach to continuous chromatography involves running multiple columns in parallel, allowing for seamless cycling of loading, washing, elution, regeneration, and re-equilibration processes. While each step may have differing durations, optimizations can be made to consolidate steps within a single cycle, thereby enhancing efficiency. Nonetheless, loading often emerges as the most time-intensive step, potentially leading to idle columns and reduced productivity. Strategies such as distributing loading across multiple columns can mitigate this issue, albeit at the expense of increased equipment costs. Remarkable progress has been made in industrial-scale continuous purification processes, notably through rapid cycling of membrane chromatography units, enabling the processing of significant volumes of cell culture supernatant. Moreover, advancements in high-throughput development and modeling have facilitated the rapid optimization of adsorption and elution conditions, seamlessly translatable from batchwise to continuous operations.
In the realm of chromatography applied to biomolecules, scalability poses no inherent challenge, with various operation principles extensively explored. Notable among these are rotating chromatography devices and periodic countercurrent chromatography techniques, which operate in a pseudocontinuous manner, achieving cyclic steady state operation. This review aims to elucidate the downstream processing of biopharmaceuticals, with a focus on the impementation of continuous chromatography. The pivotal drivers for transitioning from batchwise to continuous operation encompass gains in productivity, operational flexibility, and the potential for implementing process-control strategies essential for parametric or real-time release. While continuous chromatography introduces complexity, its benefits in productivity and flexibility far outweigh the challenges, making it an increasingly attractive prospect for biotechnological applications.
Industry is crucial to society, contributing around 27% to the global GDP and producing essential materials and products. However, industry also accounts for about 25% of global greenhouse gas emissions, significantly impacting climate change. To meet net-zero targets by 2025, we need to reduce global industrial emissions by at least 45% by 2030. However, a large number of industrial sectors are hard to abate and energy intensive, such as cement, steel, and chemicals.
Decarbonizing these industries requires innovative approaches to mitigate climate change and achieve our sustainability goals. Established in 2021, the Industrial Decarbonisation Research and Innovation Centre (IDRIC) is at the forefront of these transformative efforts. IDRIC is providing the underpinning research, innovation and knowledge exchange to accelerate the energy transition of industry.
This presentation will discuss how IDRIC is developing engineering solutions for net zero, whilst integrating economic, policy, skills and future workforce perspectives to ensure that these solutions are implemented at the scale and pace required to achieve net zero targets. For example, we are developing and de-risking engineering solutions for industrial decarbonisation, focusing on technology advancements, including novel materials and processes for adsorption technologies.
A range of adsorption technologies are emerging for capturing CO2 emissions from industrial sources, including advanced adsorbent materials, as well as innovations in regeneration methods. This presentation will also discuss how adsorption technologies can be integrated into hybrid systems combining CO2 capture with conversion.
In summary, decarbonising industry is critical to meet global climate targets and requires the development and integration of several strategies. The contributions of IDRIC are instrumental in developing cost-effective and scalable solutions, driving innovation, fostering collaboration, and therefore, paving the way for sustainable industrial futures.