Climate and resource protection are two of the great challenges of our time. Everything that we currently produce from crude oil with massive CO2 emissions can also be obtained sustainably from algae. With the BionicCellFactory, Festo is demonstrating a complete bioprocess, from the optimised cultivation of algae with continuous monitoring and analysis to the harvest, the processing and the refinement of various components.
How can we remove CO2from the atmosphere and make an active contribution to climate protection? How can we reduce our material consumption, recycle more and at the same time develop alternative raw materials? At Festo, we have been dealing with these questions for quite some time and are breaking new ground: we are transferring our expertise in automation technology to biological processes.
Living cells are the smallest factories in the world. Algae cells turn sunlight, carbon dioxide and water into oxygen and chemical energy carriers or valuable organic materials using photosynthesis in their chloroplasts. Algae are tiny climate saviours because they bind ten times more CO2than land plants. Through automated cultivation in bioreactors, this value can be increased by a factor of ten.
Our automation technology provides a closed circuit for the efficient cultivation of biomass on a large scale while saving resources at the same time. The biomass can be used in the chemical, food or pharmaceutical industries. We are presenting the BionicCellFactory as a tool for biological transformation towards an environmentally sound circular economy.
The BionicCellFactory is divided into five modules in which nature and technology are merged in different ways. Unlike in chemical processes, we do not need to use high temperatures, high pressures and toxins.
The modular design of the BionicCellFactory is also reflected in the control architecture: each module is regulated by a controller CPX-E from Festo. This means that the five process steps can be commissioned either together or separately and can easily be exchanged if there are any production modifications.
Experts can use the dashboards on the corresponding control panel to monitor and change individual parameters of the process steps. Data is exchanged between the modules via OPC UA and enables the entire BionicCellFactory to be regulated efficiently.
The BionicCellFactory as a model factory is the universal blueprint for complete production systems of the future. It can be scaled to any size with the help of our automation technology. To meet future demand for renewable raw materials, bioreactors with a capacity of several thousand litres are needed. Expertise in process automation is necessary to ensure that the systems can reliably produce the required amounts of biomass.
We develop intelligent control cabinet concepts for bioreactors with our customers and are continuing to expand our portfolio. The process systems enables us to ensure stable and precise process control with maximum productivity. This includes optimised aeration and feeding strategies, control algorithms, soft sensors for calculating the biomass in real time and system concepts for bio-based production processes.
Highly qualified technical staff and biotechnologists are not easy to find everywhere. Our experts at Festo Didactic are already analysing the need for new knowledge in order to define interdisciplinary networks and to establish innovative training professions, courses of study and additional qualifications in the fields of biomechatronics, biointelligence and sustainability.