Stageplaats Paques Biomaterials demofabriek nabij Delfzijl.
Internship call: Biopolymer production from dairy wastewaters Are you a HBO student in environmental or (bio)-process engineering looking for an internship that’s fun, fulfilling and helps make the world a more sustainable place? Come join us at Paques Biomaterials! We are a dynamic start-up company whose aim is to convert organics in industrial wastewaters and side-streams into fully biodegradable biopolymers called Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA). We develop the full technological value chain: from the “upstream” biological process of open-culture PHA accumulation in microbes, through to downstream processing and product sales. We’ve already run multiple successful pilot projects and are now scaling up the technology for industrial production on a variety of waste streams. Your project: You will be working with the upstream team on optimizing pilot-scale open-culture bioreactors to produce PHA-rich biomass from dairy side-streams. The pilot plant (pictured above, right) is a multi-step process, including acidification of the wastewater to make volatile fatty acids (VFAs), Phosphorous removal, aerobic PHA production from the VFAs, stabilization of the produced PHA, dewatering, and drying. The biological reactors range from 4 – 10 m3 in volume. Your daily tasks: Biochemical analyses, data analysis, reporting.Your work will support the continuous production- and research-oriented goals of the plant. You are welcome to focus on one part of the plant to develop a more detailed research question. Detailed operation and maintenance of the plant will be done by PBM employees, but you will learn a lot from working at such a site! Unique learning points: Pre-industrial scale technology, integrated bio-process, working in a fast- moving, dynamic start-up. Project duration: > 5 months. Preferred start: Jan/Feb 2027. Location: Farmsum (Delfzijl) Interested? Please contact Dhaval Mehta: d.mehta@paquesbiomaterials.nl