**This course has been postponed to 2021. New dates will be announced at the end of 2020.**

ECTS credits:
5 ECTS
 

Course parameters:
Language: English
Level of course: PhD course
Time of year: Postponed to 2021 
No. of contact hours/hours in total incl. preparation, assignment(s) or the like:
Duration ca. 2 weeks. Lectures, field work, exercises:

• 40 hours reading compendium and writing a pre-course report
• 20 hours lectures.
• 20 hours of theoretical exercises.
• 8 hours of visit to companies.
• 32 hours case work incl. presentation of report.

Capacity limits: 20 participants.

Objectives of the course:
The overall aim of the course is to give the students the competences to develop innovative solutions for production using marine arctic biomasses, and skills in presenting their concepts of production and initiate the process for establishing a novel production. This will be achieved by providing the students a fundamental understanding of technologies for industrial processes converting and refining low value biomass into high value products. The course will give insight and experience in identifying the potential high value products of industrial biomass processing and in the technologies for refining biomasses.

Learning outcome and competences:
At the end of the course, the student should be able to:

• Characterize and discuss the usefulness of arctic biomass for bioprocessing
• Identify, select and combine processing technologies for the production
• Develop a conceptual process design, which include calculation of mass and energy balances
• Carry out a cash flow analysis of the production
• Write a short report presenting the new production or production line, with the intention to provide information for decision taking about the project.
  
  

Compulsory programme:

• The student must have participated active in the course.
• Pre-course project submitted and evaluated as passed.
• Completion of theoretical exercises is mandatory.
• Final report and group presentation passed.
  
  

Course contents:
Before course start the students shall submit a short (max 5 pages) report about arctic biomass available for production i.e. residues from fish and shellfish industry and products from marine farming. 

On day one, the students will present their reports. They will be introduced to bioprocessing with a focus on sustainability related to marine production of e.g. algae, shellfish, etc.

The students is introduced to technologies for marine farming, harvest and reuse of residues from the fish, shrimp and shellfish industry, focus is on arctic biomasses.

Subsequently the student will learn about logistic for the management of the biomasses from collection to the use in the industry. They will be trained in collecting information or analyzing the physical and biochemical characteristics of biomass and to identify potential of the biomass components as building blocks for producing high value products.

The students are trained in pre-treatment, separation, chemical processes etc. of biomass, and basic modelling of mass and energy balances.

The first part of the course will consist primarily of lectures and case-based exercises in teams of ca. four students and a visit or visits to marine farms, fish industries or the like. Through these activities the participants is introduced to the assessment of characteristics and usefulness of available biomass, be given an overview of technologies for treating biomass as affected by biomass composition, to carry out cash flow assessment and to identify markets and potential value of product

In the second part of the course, the primary teaching format will be group work, in which the students define and carry out a project to analyse a particular biorefinery production (case) defined by a company from the arctic. The project must include a market analysis, assessment of availability of the biomass and characteristics and usefulness of the proposed process design, a mass and energy balance and a cost analysis of the conceptual production. Further, the work must include analysis of identified problems and suggested solutions. The results are presented in a report (Max 10 pages) and in oral presentations to the class and the company.
 

Prerequisites:
MSc level with biological background or engineering biotechnology background
 

Name of lecturers:

• Morten Christensen (Aalborg Universitet)
• Niels Vestergaard (Syddansk Universitet)
• Sven G. Sommer (Aarhus Universitet)
• Colleague from North Atlantic institute
  
  

Type of course/teaching methods:

• Lectures
• Exercises
• Excursion/visit to companies
• Case assignment
  
  

Literature:
Course compendium and articles

Course homepage:
Information about the course can also be found at www.gcrc.gl.
 

Course assessment:
The exam is a report/synopsis (max. 10 pages) and an oral presentation on a predefined case.

Provider:
Department of Engineering, Aarhus University
 

Special comments on this course:
This course aims at training the students in Bioprocessing using Arctic biomasses.

Time:
**Postponed to 2021. New dates will be announced at the end of 2020.**  

Place:
Nuuk, Greenland

Registration:
To be announced

If you have any questions, please contact Professor Sven Gjedde Sommer, e-mail: sgs@eng.au.dk.