Class 2018
PhD Grant: PD/BD/142943/2018
PhD thesis
Continuous purification of biological products using non-chromatographic methods
Supervisor
• Ana M. Azevedo, Professor @ IST/ULisboa, PT
Collaborators
• Raquel Aires-Barros, Professor @ IST/ULisboa, PT
• Alois Jungbauer, Professor @ BOKU, Vienna, Austria
Proposal summary
Making a shift from batch to continuous processing brings numerous advantages including reduced equipment size, low cycle times, steady-state operation and reduced capital costs, not to mention a significant increase in volumetric productivity. Despite these advantages, the batch and fed-batch modes dominate the biotechnological industry, because the implementation of full continuous processes still addresses multiple challenges.
This PhD project aims to develop an efficient continuous aqueous two-phase extraction (ATPE) for industrial enzymes and biopharmaceuticals using an oscillatory flow reactor (OFR), to build a more efficient, sustainable and cost-effective bioprocessing. It is expected that the use of this reactor could overcome the bottlenecks found with other types of equipment – flooding, back mixing, emulsification and poor degree of phase separation – since OFR allows a uniform mixing, by the combination of the periodically spaced restrictions and the oscillatory motion of the fluid.
The results of this project are expected to contribute to the definition and alleviation of current inefficiencies in the continuous ATPE, to the development and/or implementation of novel technologies, and to more efficient/sustainable and cost-effective biomanufacturing.
PUBLICATIONS
Papers
Diogo F. Faria, D.F., Silva, T.P., Aires-Barros, M.R., Azevedo, A.M., “A Chronology of the Development of Aqueous Two-Phase Systems as a Viable Liquid-Liquid Extraction for Biological Products”, Reference Module in Chemistry, Molecular Sciences and Chemical Engineering, Elsevier,2019 (https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-409547-2.14393-8)
Ferreira-Faria, D., Aires-Barros, M.R., Azevedo, A.M., Continuous aqueous two-phase extraction: From microfluidics to integrated biomanufacturing, Fluid Phase Equilibria, 508 (2020) 112438 (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fluid.2019.112438)
Oral Communications
Ferreira-Faria, D., Aires-Barros, M.R., Ferreira, A., Azevedo, A.M., Oscillatory Flow Reactor: a solution for continuous biomanufacturing, ISPPP 2021, Porto, Portugal, November 2021
Azevedo, A.M., Faria-Ferreira, D., Bras, E., Silva, D., Conde; J.P., M.R. Aires-Barros, M.R., “Continuous extraction platform using aqueous two-phase systems for the integrated purification of biological products”, ESBES 2020 – virtual meeting, September, 2020
Poster Communications
Ferreira-Faria, D., Azevedo, A.M., Aires-Barros, M.R., Ferreira, A., Continuous Aqueous Two-Phase Extraction using Oscillatory Flow Reactor, ESBES 2021 – virtual meeting, May 2021
Ferreira-Faria, D., Azevedo, A.M., Aires-Barros, M.R., Ferreira, A., Continuous Aqueous Two-Phase Extraction using Oscillatory Flow Reactor, MicroBiotec, Coimbra, Portugal, December 2019
Ferreira-Faria, D., Azevedo, A.M., Aires-Barros, M.R., Ferreira, A. Continuous Aqueous Two-Phase Extraction using Oscillatory Flow Reactor, Integrated Continuous Biomanufacturing | ICB IV (ECI Engineering Conferences International), session on “Validation of ICB processes”, Cape Cod (MA, USA), October 6-10, 2019
DOCTORAL PROGRAM (36 ECTS)
Curricular Units:
• General Doctoral Training (6 ECTS)
• Advanced Experimental Techniques and methodologies (6 ECTS)
• Bioentrepreneurship (6 ECTS)
• Outreach and Teaching Skills (6 ECTS)
• Chemical Engineering Reactions (6 ECTS)
• Nanobiotechnology (6 ECTS)
Advanced courses: 10th Course on Animal Cell Technology organized by the European Society of Animal Cell Technology, performed in virtual mode, from 21st to 25th September 2020