Reducing Water Usage in Bioprocessing

Water is the primary material used in bioprocessing. While water is not the most expensive raw material the availability of large amounts of purified water and subsequent waste treatment capacity may limit site selection opportunities. This presentation uses bioprocess simulation to explore several strategies. Single-use systems, for example, provide significant reductions in water usage, but there is a practical scale limit. Platform selection can have a significant impact on water usage. For example microbial product expression may be less water-intensive than cell culture. For the majority of products, water reduction can  be accomplished through process improvements. Titer optimization, can reduce upstream water usage by 40%. Single-use technologies allow for considerable water savings by eliminating the need for equipment and line cleaning. Single use systems have  practical size limitations. Buffer and media preparation strategies like in-line dilution reduce vessel size and resulting water consumption.  Alternative downstream technologies can also provide significant reductions in water usage.