Aberystwyth University – IBERS
About this exhibitor
The Aberystwyth Biorefining Centre, BEACON, is a scale-up capability offering a range of technologies to support innovators, both academic and industrial, to develop and commercialise biobased processes and products.
Over the last 20 years, we have worked on multiple collaborative biorefining projects, funded by regional, national and international agencies, enabling us to offer a unique plug-and-play pilot-scale facility managed by experienced staff.
Our scale-up facility operates at TRL 1-5 and provides capability for pre-treatment, fermentation and downstream processing. The range of pilot-scale equipment includes screwpresses, continuous centrifuges, membrane separation kit, bioreactors, fermenters and driers.
Our research focuses on enabling technologies and bio-process design, with key capabilities in:
- Synthetic biology – enzyme & microbial discovery and development (TRL 1-3)
- Separation & extraction – bulk separation technologies (TRL 2-5)
- Biomass processing – thermochemical & biochemical pretreatment (TRL 2-5)
- Fermentation science – bioconversion of feedstocks (TRL 2-5)
- Anaerobic digestion – bioenergy and waste valorisation (TRL 1-3)
- Downstream processing – purification and product recovery (TRL 2-5)
We work with diverse feedstocks, from energy crops and agricultural residues to seaweed and municipal waste, developing bio-based solutions for health food, cosmetics, green solvents, biocomposites, bioenergy, and bioplastics/packaging industries.
The centre employs a multidisciplinary approach, bringing together biologists, chemical engineers, computer scientists and industry to address the challenges of commercialising biotechnological developments using a wide range of biobased feedstocks.
Visit our stand at ChemUK to explore collaboration opportunities and discover how our expertise can support your innovations!