Pilot plant for plant-based raw materials for biobased products

Our pilot plant offers you the unique opportunity to conduct and optimize product and process development outside your production on a scale of up to 250 L.

Whether you are looking to increase the sustainability of your technical product through the use of bio-based ingredients, find the best plant-based raw material for your product, or explore potential applications for a plant material, we can provide expert support in evaluating individual process steps, developing processes, and scaling up your developed processes in our facilities. Of course, we also offer contract work and contribute our knowledge and experience in the areas of plant-based raw materials, extraction, extract purification and formulation development.

Our specialty is the utilization of previously unused material streams from the food or agricultural industry. In order to achieve the most comprehensive and sustainable use of raw materials and to utilize multiple fractions of a raw material (e.g. lipids, proteins, fibers and secondary plant compounds), we focus on the development of cascade processes.

• Extensive knowledge of raw materials
• Ability to perform all production steps of the entire processing chain, from raw material to finished product, in-house
• Pilot scale facilities for validation of in-house extraction processes, saving raw materials
• Small- to pilot-scale developments deliver results even when raw materials are limited
• Custom adaptation of machinery and equipment by our in-house workshop
• Consulting and process development based on the latest research results
  

A customer-focused approach, high product quality, sustainability and resilience are our top priorities.

• We assist you in selecting the most suitable plant-based raw material for your application.
• We customize the processes for utilizing plant-based raw materials to suit both the raw material and the desired product functionality.
• We can optimize and adapt existing extraction processes.
• To ensure that raw materials are used in a comprehensive and resource-efficient manner, we offer the development of cascade processes for the simultaneous extraction of several valuable substances.
  
• We carry out sample production of plant-based ingredients or bio-based additives from laboratory scale to pilot scale of 250 L.
• We support you in the development of model and product formulations for the integration of plant-based ingredients. One focus is to identify and test interactions with other formulation components.

We provide our partners with the pilot plant facilities including personnel.

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Let us help you develop and utilize previously unused plant-based raw materials. We believe that a precise qualitative and quantitative analysis of the raw materials is essential, as the development and optimization of the process is specific to the raw material and its characteristic composition and properties. In order to identify potential applications, we also evaluate the functional potential and take into account economic aspects such as market volume and availability.

In order to achieve optimal extraction yields, targeted raw material preparation is required. In our pilot plant mill, we have a range of dry processing methods available to us in the area of fragmentation and separation technology.

To achieve high yields of plant extracts, we tailor the extraction process to the raw materials at hand. At the same time, we consider the intended application of the extract in order to achieve the highest possible functionality.

In addition to aqueous processes, we also use organic solvents in our explosion-proof units and gentle high-pressure extraction using supercritical CO₂. Solid/liquid extractions can be performed using both percolation and immersion methods. Further processing steps for fractionation, purification and concentration can also be performed under explosion-proof conditions.

We are happy to produce product samples for you in our pilot plants with a working volume of up to 250 L. We also offer you the opportunity to implement and scale up your own company developments in our pilot plants.

extraction with organic solvents

CO₂-Extraction

aqueous Extraction

The successful use of plant extracts as ingredients in technical products or in the personal and home care sector requires their precise characterization. This includes not only the qualitative and quantitative analysis of the composition, but also the creation of a property profile in terms of physical and chemical characteristics. If not already defined in advance, this can also be used to identify the optimal areas of application for plant-based ingredients.

We also have the option to perform various modification processes to optimize the functionality of the extract. These can be enzymatic, chemical or physical.

Depending on the target application and the properties of the extracts obtained, we can help you evaluate how to substitute fossil-based or synthetic product components. This is done by incorporating the plant extracts into defined, application-specific model or product formulations. We can evaluate the resulting sample products for the following aspects:

• Determination of product characteristics that determine quality
• Evaluation of sample products for quality degrading factors (light, temperature, resistance, etc.)
• Identification of interactions between the plant additives and other product components
• Adjusting the formulation to achieve optimal functionality
• Evaluation of the sample products in comparison to commercially available products
• Study of the economic feasibility
• Support for industrial scale implementation