Biofertilizers & bioinputs
Biofertilisers, biopesticides and plant-growth-promoting microorganisms are among the biological inputs used in sustainable agriculture. Commercial-scale production requires a cultivation process that delivers viable cell, spore, propagule or target metabolite yield, depending on the product, with batch-to-batch consistency. Bacterial inoculants such as Rhizobium, Azotobacter and Bacillus and filamentous fungi such as Trichoderma differ in rheology, shear sensitivity and oxygen transfer requirements. The two groups are therefore treated separately.
Application-specific process requirements
Balancing cost and yield
Raw material cost, batch time, contamination risk and target viable cell/spore/propagule yield are optimised together.
Bacterial inoculants
For bacteria such as Rhizobium, Azotobacter and Bacillus the target is viable cell or spore yield. In Bacillus processes, sporulation is optimised strain by strain through nutrient limitation, pH, temperature, oxygenation, medium composition and harvest timing.
Filamentous fungal processes
For filamentous fungi such as Trichoderma, rising viscosity, shear sensitivity and oxygen transfer determine agitator selection and aeration strategy; spore or propagule yield is optimised separately against the product target.
Scale-up
Laboratory, pilot and production scales share the software and data structure. We size the production reactor from pilot data and define the control settings anew for each scale.
Production methods used
Talamus models for this application
| Model | Scale | Working volume | Sterilisation | Delivery | Control structure |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TLM120 | Pilot-scale systems | 20 L seed reactor + 100 L pilot reactor | Automated SIP | Skid-mounted | Shared phase, loop and data structure |
| TLM500 | Pilot-scale systems | 500 L working volume (600 L total) | Automated SIP | Skid-mounted | Shared phase, loop and data structure |
| TLM Industrial | Industrial systems | 1,000 L – 30,000 L working volume | SIP/CIP, per project | Line engineered per project | Shared phase, loop and data structure |
Technical consultation request
Information on the organism group, target product form (cells, spores, propagules or metabolite) and annual production target is sufficient for an initial assessment.