A bioreactor is any manufactured or engineered device or system that supports a biologically active environment. It may for example be a vessel in which a chemical process is carried out which involves organisms or biochemically active organism-dervied substances, or a device or system for growing cells or tissues for use in tissue engineering or biochemical engineering. Optimal bioreactor design is a complex engineering task, which share several common features with chemical process engineering. This research stream builds upon our long and successful track record in chemical process engineering (LINK), and aims to prepare a knowledge-base that can be applied within the growing Norwegian industrial biotechnology field as well as support our ambitions within the tissue engineering field.

It is closely linked to NTNU Analysis, Design and Control of Microbial Systems (LINK) and NTNU Tissue Engineering (LINK), and it merges our reactor technology and microbial physiology competences.

The reactor technology group has experience in chemical reactor technology for more than 30 years. Among the processes investigated are methanol synthesis, hydrogen production, steam reforming, chemical looping reforming/combustion, Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, Biomass To Liquid fuels (BTL), etc.  The field of expertise includes:

• Process systems engineering, process optimization, process control and feasibility studies including economical evaluations.
• Transport phenomena including single- and multiphase flow, heat and mass transfer. 
• Reactor optimization, scale-up and design
• Reactor modelling and numerical analysis

The microbial physiology group at Department of Biotechnology focuses on deep phenotyping of prokaryotic and eukaryotic systems using advanced cultivation technology and mass spectrometry based metabolomics and fluxomics combined with high-dimensional data analysis and modelling. The field of expertise includes:

• Development and application of mass spectrometric based quantitative metabolite profiling and mass isotopomer determination for Metabolomics and Fluxomics purposes
• Controlled cultivation studies in bioreactors, bioprocess optimization and physiological studies
• Experience in many biological systems of both industrial, environmental and medical relevance (P. fluorescens, E. coli, Streptomyces, S. cerevisiae, human cell lines and body fluids