Universidade Nova de Lisboa

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Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia

Separation Processes for Biological Products

Code

7360

Academic unit

Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia

Department

Departamento de Química

Credits

6.5

Teacher in charge

João Paulo Serejo Goulão Crespo, Pedro Miguel Calado Simões

Weekly hours

6

Total hours

87

Teaching language

Português

Objectives

In this course it is expected to give information on the separation techniques used in biotechnology, to provide students with sufficient information to formulate isolation schemes for a given biomolecule, and to design equipment for each unit operation. The study of alternative and innovative purification methods will also be stimulated through seminar presentation by the students.  It is also envisaged to give students an overview of the exigencies in the handling, purification and validation of processes involving biological products, as the operating conditions differ markedly from chemical engineering.

Subject matter

  1. Introduction to Bioseparation Processes – Bioprocesses Classification; properties, Classification and Applications of Biological products; Production-Cost relation; RIPP Schemes and typical unit operations; Examples of industrial biochemical processes.
  2. Solid-Liquid Separations – Operations to remove solids: (i) Filtration at constant flow and pressure. Filter design. (ii) Sedimentation. Sedimentation velocity; Stokes´ Law; Design of sedimentation equipment. (iii) Centrifugation. Applied Stokes law, Equivalent area of sedimentation; types of centrifuges; Equations for centrifuge design.
  3. Solvent extraction – Extraction of bioproducts by liquid solvents or supercritical fluid solvents.
  4. Cell disruption- Structure and composition of cell membranes and walls; Chemical and mechanical methods for cell disruption.
  5. Membrane Separations - Basic concepts; Membrane preparation and characterization; Modules; Transport in porous membranes: concentration polarization; Transport in nonporous membranes: solution-diffusion model; Membrane separation processes: pressure and concentration driven; Modules/configurations and applications.
  6. Chromatography - Adsorbents; Adsorption equilibrium; Solute movement theory; Local equilibrium theory; Packed bed adsorption; Mass transfer zone approach; Linear dispersion and staged models; Van Deemter equation; Types of chromatograph: adsorption chromatography, ion exchange chromatography, size exclusion chromatography, affinity chromatography, hydrophobic interaction chromatography, reversed phase chromatography, ion exchange chromatography; Large scale chromatography. Examples of industrial processes.
  7. Electrophoresis – Separation of biological products by electrophoresis. Influence of electric charge and molecular size. Heat dissipation. Isoelectric focusing.
  8. Integrated processes - Selection and sequencing of separations; Overview of separation methods; Energy, heuristics and environmental criteria; Analysis of specific bioprocesses (e.g., citric acid production; human insulin production).
  9. Validation of bioprocesses; Good Manufacturing Practices and validation of Biopharmaceutical Downstream Processing
  10. Seminar presentation.

Teaching method

The teaching unit on Separation Processes for Biological Products comprises of lectures and practical classes. In the practical classes, it is envisaged to solve data-handling problems related with the theoretical concepts introduced in the lectures, as well as to present and discuss scientific papers on the subject. Laboratorial classes are also programmed. The students will prepare seminars related with the topics of the course, giving emphasis to new techniques.

Evaluation method

Assessment for this course includes laboratory sessions, corresponding reports/essays and discussion, and oral presentation and discussion of scientific papers. This amounts to 40% of final grade. If the student succeeds there will be a final written exam corresponding to 60% of final grade (minimum exam classification is 10).The grade scale is 0-20.

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