For the third time in a row, biotechnology students have made it onto the winners' podium at TU Dresden's €99 bioreactor competition. After participating for the first time in 2019 (2nd place) and 2022 (3rd place), they once again took 3rd place out of a total of eight university teams across Germany.
This year, in view of rising energy costs, the basic condition was that this bioreactor must not cost more than €99, and the prize was awarded for the highest yield with the lowest power consumption. For this purpose, the enzyme phytase was to be produced using the yeast Blastobotrys adeninivorans. This enzyme mobilizes phosphate from the plant storage substance phytic acid, which cannot be broken down by animals or humans. Adding phytase to plant-based livestock feed reduces the necessary addition of inorganic phosphate and ultimately the phosphate concentration in the resulting manure. The enzyme therefore not only reduces the costs of producing animal feed, but also helps to protect the environment.
The brilliant idea of the HSZG team with coach Dipl.-Ing. Toni Baloun for a particularly energy-saving and sustainable bioreactor came from our university location: energy from hydropower, which is virtually free on the doorstep in the Zittau Mountains. Mixing and aeration could thus be realized via a simple and robust tilting mechanism, without electrically driven motors and pumps. Only the temperature control, which comes from a heating element of a 3D printer, and the control electronics require electrical energy. There are more details here!
The creative ideas of the other teams were also interesting, such as a bioreactor that was heated by surrounding compost, or the model of the Rhineland-Palatinate Technical University of Kaiserslautern-Landau, which won the competition with energy-saving bubble column aeration and gravimetric feeding through an infusion bag.
Two specialist lectures on the topic and the subsequent summer party with students from the other participating universities ensured that science and networking were not neglected.
All in all, it was a successful event that allowed students to put what they had learned during their studies into practice with a lot of fun and commitment, in line with the Olympic motto "taking part is everything".
Congratulations to our team!
The €99 bioreactor competition has been organized by the "Netzwerk Bioverfahrenstechnik Dresden e.V." since 2014 and is held on two days in July at the Institute of Natural Materials Technology by the Chair of Bioprocess Engineering. Each year, a new task is set for the teams to work on in the laboratories of their universities during the summer semester. The aim is to produce a product with maximum yield using a specific microorganism over a period of 24 hours in a specially constructed bioreactor. Only students under the supervision of a laboratory engineer are eligible to take part.
