Scaling a Silk-Based Protein Company’s Production From Bench Scale to a Pilot Plant
Context
A startup silk-based protein company had just raised over $15 million to commercialize production of their novel process. The challenge was that they didn’t have a clear understanding of what their commercial scale process would look like or the steps to get there, and did not yet have an in-house team with the experience to successfully make the transition from bench scale. They brought Next Rung Technology in as a partner to guide them towards their first pilot production facility.
“We needed the discipline and expertise to build out our operation without building an entire team.”
Process
The Next Rung team supported the client’s R&D development, process scale-up, pilot plant design, and operational planning:
Project Management, Process Design, and Downstream Processing
The kickoff activity was a joint road-mapping session led by Next Rung to create a clear roadmap to commercialization in order to guide execution. The roadmap outlined key tasks encompassing technology development, production goals, projects, regulatory approvals, and business needs with projected completion timing, setting a reasonable expectation for engagement with the client R&D team.
This was followed by a tech transfer handoff from the client to Next Rung and a mapping out of a Process Flow Diagram and critical process parameters. The Next Rung Team generated a process design basis and set up mass balances at different scales to support pilot plant sizing. A parallel activity involved helping the client determine the right fit industrial unit operations to successfully scale their process from bench scale operation (working in pressure cookers) to a pilot facility that could generate multiple tons per year of product and eventually to commercial scale. This included technical and economic evaluation of options, vendor outreach and coordinating vendor trials.
A techno-economic assessment (TEA) tool was developed by Next Rung for the client’s use to understand their cost of goods and evaluate the impact of varying process, operational, and economic parameters on the plant’s economics at pilot and commercial scales.
Process Engineering
The Next Rung team produced a process design package including piping and Instrumentation diagrams for process and supporting utilities including line sizing and material requirements, equipment, instrument, valve, and line lists, and major equipment specifications. The team was nimble in adapting their design when needed based on ongoing learnings coming from R&D. The released design supported vendor sourcing and integration with a broader team of architects and MEP engineers.
Site Selection, Permitting, Planning, and Execution
While the process and equipment design and procurement were underway, it was time to select a site for the pilot plant. The Next Rung Team partnered with the client in a vigorous vetting process to ensure they selected a site that aligned with the client’s long term goals, budget, and process requirements. They integrated with the client and external team to create a pilot plant layout that provides for process and material flows, regulatory requirements, and maintenance clearances.
Next Rung drove the procurement process through specification, competitive bidding and recommendations, and submittals reviews to support the fast-track project.
“The Next Rung Team drove the vast majority of maturity of manufacturing from operational and strategic perspective.”
Equipment Procurement + Technical Specialist
Next Rung led the equipment procurement process, taking advantage of deep industry knowledge to develop equipment specifications and requests for proposals. NRT worked with the clients team and contractor to manage the vendor outreach and bidding process to make the right equipment selection that was within budget and schedule. Additionally a process engineer on the Next Rung team was always available to troubleshoot and provide technical support.
Outcomes
The client expects to go from bench scale to 2,000 liters per batch with a scalable process with the help of Next Rung Team’s efforts in the design and execution of their pilot plant.
The partnership continues, and Next Rung Technology has played a large part in expanding the client’s manufacturing to pilot scale and anticipates supporting the project through commissioning and startup.
“In our year of working together, we’ve gone from lab scale process → Pilot scale → Making major manufacturing purchasing decisions.”
