welcome to the mbf
The Microbial Bioprocessing Facility (MBF) in the School of Biotechnology, DCU supports training and research within academia and the Irish food and beverage industries. We educate and train students towards careers in food, agri-food, environmental and biopharmaceutical industries while also providing support to first-class research in these fields. Along with offering bioprocessing training through our undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, the facility provides full bioprocess development platforms. The MBF has a history of supporting industry by performing proof-of-concept investigations, process development, and scale-up studies, bringing research from an initial concept towards commercial production. Along with research achievements we have also been finalists in education laboratory of the year (2019 & 2020) and team partner for the postgraduate course of the year 2018 & 2019.
10l Braun Sartorius Biostat C Bioreactors (x3)
- 3:1 microbial geometry
- Sterilisation in place
- MFCS/DA software
15l INFORST HT Techfors SIP Bioreactor
- 3:1 microbial geometry
130l APPLIKON Bioreactor
- Converted for high oxygen microbial requiring microbial cultures
- Rushton 6 blade turbines
- Sterilisation in place
- High air flow-rates (>200 lpm)
- Mixing (>1400 rpm)
3.6l Bioengineering KLF glass bioreactors (x2)
- Designed for microbial culture
- In-situ sterilisation in place
- Supports high-oxygen transfer requirements
- Control over – substrate feed, antifoam, pH, DO, temperature
- Bioengineering SCADA software
1.5l Bioengineering RALF glass bioreactor
- Designed for microbial culture
- Bioengineering SCADA software
5l Sartorius Stedim glass bioreactors (x2)
- Autoclavable
- Full process control
- MFCS/DA software
Process Analytical Technology (PAT)
- ABER Instruments Futura monitor and online probe
- Magellan Biotech Tandem PRO O2 and CO2 off-gas analyser
- Mettler Toledo RC1e bio-calorimeter
- Automatic bioprocess sampling
We offer the facilities to train students on the full brewing process.
Our equipment includes:
- Malt mill
- 25l Grainfather Pro Mashtun, 30l stainless steel conical fermenation tank
- 50l Speidal Braumeister Plus Pro and Speidel 60l stainless steel conical fermentation tank
Alfa Laval 50 k rpm continous centrifuge
Millipore Tangental Flow Filtration System (UF/DF)
- Pellicon 2 Mini UF module PLCTK C 0.1 m2
Brookfield CAP 2000+ Viscometer
- Viscosity 0.2 – 15,000 Poise
- Temperature 5-75°C or 50-235°C
- Speed of rotation 5-1000 rpm
Shimadzu Prominence HPLC Systems (x2)
- PDA and RI detectors
- Quaternary pump
- Flowrate range: 0.0001 to 10 ml/min
Nano Research Facility @ DCU
Grain-4-Lab will also be working alongside the team at DCU’s Nano Research Facility (NRF). The NRF provides open access high end state of the art scientific equipment for research in academia and industry.
