Biorefining pilot plant
Bioprocessing for Food, Feed and Bio-based Materials
Run your process at 50, 500 or 5,000 litres, from fermentation to dried product, in a facility built to food-grade standards.
We provide expertise and infrastructure for the development, scale-up and experimental production of fermentation-based products, biomass valorisation and bio-based materials, from pilot-scale process development through to pre-industrial batches. The facility is designed to food-grade standards, which makes us a natural partner for food and feed ingredient development, including emerging novel-food categories, alongside chemicals and materials.
We work with both GM and non-GM microbial hosts under a contained-use permit.
The challenge
The scale-up gap we close
Proving that a process which works in a small laboratory reactor will hold at industrial scale is the hardest and most expensive step between a good idea and a product on the market. It usually demands equipment and downstream capacity that few companies can justify building before the process is proven, and downstream processing is often where the economics are won or lost.
Metrosert’s biorefining pilot plant exists to close that gap. Our 50, 500 and 5,000 litre bioreactor cascade with integrated downstream processing lets you generate the scale-up data and the representative material you need to make an investment decision, or to seed a market, without committing capital to your own plant first.
What you can make here
Precision-fermentation proteins
Enzymes and functional proteins made in GM yeast, fungal and bacterial hosts, for food, feed and technical uses.
Biomass and single-cell protein
Microbial biomass and protein for food and feed, produced by aerobic and anaerobic cultivation.
Functional biomass fractions and bioactives
Development and experimental production of functional fractions and high-value compounds from cell biomass.
Biomaterials and bioplastics
Fermentation-derived biopolymers and bio-based material precursors.
Engagement
How we work with you
Companies come to us at different stages, and we meet you where you are. A typical engagement might use the full cascade, but many need only one scale.
Full scale-up
Take a process starting at 50 litres, up through 500 and 5,000 litres, generating the scale-up data and representative material to support an investment or market-entry decision.
Single-scale trials
A one-off run at a single scale, including a standalone 5,000 litre fermentation trial, when that’s all you need.
Experimental production
Small batches of representative material for application testing, sampling or market seeding.
Advisory support
Where relevant, we can also help with feasibility questions, partner search and funding routes, drawing on a team that has worked on the industrial side and a network across the sector.
Our infrastructure
Bioreactor cascade, 50 to 5,000 litres
A scale-up cascade for aerobic and anaerobic fermentation, supporting batch, fed-batch and continuous operation.
Enzymatic processing
Enzymatic and high-shear reactors for hydrolysis, extraction and bioconversion.
Separation and cell disruption
Disc-stack separator for cell and solids separation, and a high-pressure homogeniser (up to 1,000 bar) for releasing intracellular products.
Filtration
Ultrafiltration and microfiltration for clarification and concentration, and a filter press for solidโliquid separation.
Purification
Chromatography skid for purification and polishing at pilot scale.
Concentration and heat treatment
Falling-film vacuum evaporator for gentle concentration of product streams, and a continuous pasteuriser with indirect heating (60โ134 ยฐC).
Drying and formulation
Freeze-drying, spray drying, fluidised-bed and extrusion for finished-form product.
Request the spec sheet
Funding
The establishment of Estoniaโs synthetic biology and biorefining pilot plant is a strategic national investment. The total cost of the project is approximately 19 million euros.
The project is supported by the Estonian state and the European Union through the following measures:
Estonian Business and Innovation Agency (EIS): EIS is supporting the purchase of equipment and the construction of infrastructure with 4 170 000 euros under the activity โSupport for R&D infrastructure of companies providing research and development servicesโ, established by Regulation No. 23 of the Minister of Entrepreneurship and Information Technology of 21 March 2022, โRegulation on Applied Research by Enterprisesโ.
Agricultural Registers and Information Board (PRIA): PRIA is supporting the purchase of equipment with 343 266,38 euros under Regulation No. 48 of the Minister of Rural Affairs of 19 August 2022, โInvestment Support for the Valorisation of Bioresourcesโ.
Our services
Industrial scale-up
Applied research and experimental development from laboratory to pre-industrial scale. We also advise on project planning, partner search, business-model analysis, co-funding and intellectual property.
Small-batch production
Access to our equipment for small-batch production, on a facility designed to food-grade standards.
Why work with us
An independent, confidential scale-up partner with an integrated fermentation and downstream cascade, plus a network that keeps you connected to developments across the biotech sector and can bring you into international development consortia and global value chains.
Contact Us
We support companies, in Estonia and abroad, that are developing novel products, services or technologies, and want to grow enterprise value through their own intellectual property. Get in touch with our biorefining team:
Kaupo Reede
Head of the Unit
+372 5330 4076
kaupo.reede@metrosert.ee
Karl Peebo
Business Development Manager
+372 5782 8713
karl.peebo@metrosert.ee