Bioproduction & Research

Kalundborg industry represents many different types of production activities ranging from fermentation, downstream processing and chemical modification to distillation, utility systems, IT & automation.

Explore these activities further in the six categories below describing related research areas, involved supervisors and specialists as well as relevant Fellowship projects.

Fermentation

Fermentation

It all began back in the early 1970s when Novo Industri established a production facility in Kalundborg. Now, 50 years later, new companies are again establishing fermentation plants in the area. Fermentation with natural or genetically engineered bacteria and yeast is fundamental to a broad range of industrial activities in Kalundborg ranging from the large industrial-scale production of enzymes, protein feed, food and pharmaceuticals to the small-scale wine production on the Røsnæs peninsula.

 

 

 

 

 

Downstream Processing

Recovery and purification of biological and chemical products in a series of processes are carried out in many of the Kalundborg industries. These processes are among others separation by centrifugation and filtration, product recovery, extraction and product purification, as well as chemical modification, distillation, crystallization and various drying methods for the final product. As a result of this, there are numerous possibilities for students and their supervisors to work with, explore and optimize downstream processes.

 

 

 

 

Ectapure
Chemical reaction

Chemical Processes

In the manufacturing of pharmaceuticals, enzymes, food and feed ingredients different chemical reactions may be used to modify molecules and intermediate products. Also within distillation, water purification, treatment of cooling water and wastewater and cleaning in place (CIP) knowledge within chemistry is key. Furthermore, understanding of corrosion processes, chemical methods for the treatment of surfaces and equipment and chemical scavenging are some of the opportunities for master thesis students in the Kalundborg industry cluster.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Water & Utility

Water and the supply of water are fundamental to almost all industrial processes in Kalundborg. As a consequence, the total amount of water used by the industry is very considerable, and the wastewater treatment systems are equally sized and of great importance to the industry. The demand for black and clean utility systems is very high, with an extensive infrastructure to supply and distribute steam, heating and cooling, power supply, exhaust, gasses, etc.

Kalundborg is world-renowned for its 50-year-old Industrial Symbiosis and is part of developing the Kalundborg industry into a sustainable production. This is key and strictly necessary for the future development of the industry. Resource savings, optimizations and sustainability is also a major topic that then has come to define master thesis projects in collaboration with universities and Helix Lab.

 

 

 

 

Pipes
Data

Data & Digitalization

Digitalization of processes is going fast and in almost all industries in Kalundborg the use of Plant Information (PI) systems, PLC- and SCADA systems is of utmost importance to production. There is a strong movement towards the use of real-time inline/at-line sensor technology, digital twins models and AI in manufacturing, and to be able to use big data to interpret and evaluate the production as it takes place. Also within training and education, new technology like VR/AR/XR is investigated or even used in some facilities.

 

 

 

 

 

Automation & Robotics

In almost all industries manual work is rapidly being replaced by automated solutions to improve productivity and standardize processes. The industry in Kalundborg is rapidly integrating automatic solutions for manufacturing. Older factories are undergoing massive rebuilding and investment in order to implement new technology. New facilities are highly automated from day 1. Automation includes fully automatic production lines, the use of stationary and mobile robots and cobots, and the use of vision- and sensor technologies in all areas of production.

 

 

 

 

 

Automation