Course
Microalgae Biorefinery
Advanced course, 2nd edition, designing optimal microalgae-based biorefineries, from unit operations to the entire process chain, for both research and commercial applications and to be able to address the present bottlenecks in the process chain.
Background
Microalgae are considered a biobased feedstock for a variety of applications: Food, feed, chemicals, materials and energy. The advantages of this feedstock is its flexibility in terms of products and sustainability: high areal productivity in comparison to terrestrial crops, lack of competition for land that is suitable for agriculture, and their capacity to grow on seawater. To make microalgae a source of bulk products, the cost price for production needs to be reduced, the scale of production needs to be increased significantly and the biomass value should be maximized.
To develop a more sustainable and economically feasible process, all biomass components (e.g. proteins, lipids, carbohydrates) should be used at minimal energy requirements and minimal costs while keeping the functionality of the different biomass components. Biorefining of microalgae is very important for the selective separation and use of the functional biomass components
In the course Microalgae Process Design: from cells to photobioreactors (5th Edition, 18 - 25 August, Wageningen) the upstream part, i.e. the biology and cultivation part is covered. In this course, Microalgae Biorefinery, the downstream part, i.e the biorefinery will be in focus. The two courses will cover the entire microalgae process chain. When taking both courses we can offer a reduction in total course fee.
Target group
The course is aimed at PhD students, postgraduate and postdoctoral researchers, as well as professionals, that would like to acquire a thorough understanding of microalgal biorefinery. An MSc level in (bio)process technology, or alike, is recommended.
Course aim
This course provides the essential skills for designing optimal microalgae-based biorefineries, from unit operations to the entire process chain, for both research and commercial applications and to be able to address the present bottlenecks in the process chain. In addition several speakers from industry will highlight the industrial/economic framework of microalgae biorefinery.
Course design
Through lectures, digital cases and short practicals, the participants will learn: 1) to describe different process units for each process step in the microalgae biorefinery chain; 2) to evaluate and optimize the process units by setting up mass/energy balances for each unit; 3) to integrate the different process units in a process chain and to 4) integrate the acquired knowledge into optimal process chains for different business cases with different combinations of end products.
Programme topics
- Unit operations mass balances: harvesting, cell disruption, extraction, fractionation
- Biorefinery Process Design
- Optimization of the process chain
- Analytical methods
Social programme
On Tuesday evening a course dinner is organised.
Course coordinators
- Prof Michel Eppink, Bioprocess Engineering, Wageningen University & Research
- Dr Corjan van den Berg, Bioprocess Engineering, Wageningen University & Research
- Dr Giuseppe Olivieri – Bioprocess Engineering, Wageningen University & Research
Other faculty
- Dr Ben van den Broek - Food and Biobased Research, Wageningen UR
- Dr Carl Safi - Food and Biobased Research, Wageningen UR
- Dr Dorinde Kleinegris - Food and Biobased Research, Wageningen UR
- Dr Carlos Unamunzaga, Fitoplancton, Cadiz, Spain
- Dr Philippe Willems, Value or Technology, Belgium
- Dr Reza Ranjbar, AlgaeBiotech S.L., The Netherlands
Date & duration
The course will be held from 28 - 31 August 2017, 4 days. Course duration: 3 days.
Study load
The study load of this course is 0.9 ECTS credits.
Language
The course language will be English.
Contact information
Information concerning the course contents can be obtained from Dr Corjan van den Berg, phone: +31 317 485422 and Prof. Michel Eppink
For organisational matters please contact :
Mrs. Eva Oudshoorn
Email: eva.oudshoorn@wur.nl
Location & accommodation
Lectures will be given at Wageningen University.
The town of Wageningen is 5 km from Ede-Wageningen railway station, with transport options being taxi or bus. Ede-Wageningen railway station is about one and a half hours from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. For train schedules visit: www.ns.nl.
A number of hotel rooms have been block booked at the Hof van Wageningen for course participants, but only until 4 July 2017. Accommodation costs are € 75 (single room; bed & breakfast, excluding tax) or € 92 (twin room; bed & breakfast, excluding tax) per night. Hotel reservation is handled by Hof van Wageningen. Participants have to book their own hotel room by sending an email to: info@hofvanwageningen.nl. Please mention booking code MPD-MBR17
Registration & course fee
Registration is closed!
To be able to fill in the registration form, you need a "VLAG-events account".
To create this account, please click here: create account.
If you already have a "VLAG-events account" you can directly go to the course registration form.
The final registration date is prolonged until 4 August 2017. The number of participants to the course is limited to 26.
Applicants will receive a confirmation of their registration within one week and will be informed about their acceptance to the course 20 July 2017 at the latest. When accepted to the course they will receive instructions for payment and further course details. To secure their place in the course the applicants have to arrange payment of their course fee within 30 days after invoicing. Registrations are accepted in the order in which the registration form is received.
The course fee includes printed materials, coffee/tea during breaks, lunches and one dinner but does not cover accommodation. The course fee depends on the participant's affiliation.
| VLAG / WU PhD candidates | € 250 |
| PhD candidates | € 500 |
| Postdocs and other academic staff / Non-profit | € 700 |
| Participants from the private sector | € 1600 |
We can offer a discount in total course fee when taking the prior course on Microalgae Process Design from 18 - 25 August 2017. Please contact Eva Oudshoorn (eva.oudshoorn@wur.nl) for more information.
Cancellations policy
- No charge until 18 July 2017
- 25% of the course fee paid or due till 11 August 2017
- No refund after 11 August 2017
Substitutions may be made at any time until the start of the course.