Grant: Research Tools and Instruments - Category 1 (<$150,000)

This proposal requests a Sorvall Model RC6 plus Superspeed Centrifuge with carbon fiber rotors and accessories to support the research programs of J Ramsay and P Champagne in the "Microbial production of value-added products from renewable resources". The centrifuge will be invaluable in about 90-95% of all analyses to assess the efficiency and conversion of agricultural waste biomass to fermentable sugars as well as monitoring the consumption of nutrients in the production of intermediates and desired biofuels (ethanol, methane) and bioproducts (medium-chain-length polyhydroxyalkanoates). The analytical information that can be obtained is essential in developing industrial processes. The centrifuge is the easiest and most efficient means to separate the biomass from the supernatant prior to analysis as well as in the recovery of large volumes of hydrolyzed lignocellulosics for conversion to a biofuel or bioproduct and the recovery of sufficient MCL-PHA for material characterization and modification. We do not have access to equipment which can meet our needs and our present equipment is in adequate. The requested centrifuge will allows us to process more samples per experiment so that we can have better data to help us develop reliable, efficient industrial processes. We anticipate that 23-30 HQP will benefit from the use of this equipment. The requested equipment will support research that will benefit the environment and the Canadian economy as it is a key piece of equipment in developing bio-based processes which will produce fuels and products, specifically bioethanol and bioplastics from renewable sources and waste agricultural biomass. This will reduce our dependency on an increasingly more expensive petroleum based resource and can potentially create new industries and new jobs.