The Biorenewables Development Centre has been set up to allow us to work on diverse biorefining projects across the bio-based supply chain, such as: breeding new types of plants; extracting valuable chemicals from waste; turning biomass into energy or finding new ingredients for cosmetic products.
Lab, office and conference space available for hire
Here at the BDC we have state-of-the-art research and development biorefinery, pilot scale lab facilities and flexible office space available for hire. Close to the University of York, we are conveniently located on the outskirts of the city, close to major road and rail links for easy access from most parts of the UK.
Our facilities and staff expertise cater for companies that are looking for flexible hot desking, office or lab space to companies that want to scale up their products or processes with bespoke lab facilities and equipment. We can develop methods at laboratory scale and we can scale up processes to demonstrate their commercial potential, typically at the 1-100 litre or 1-100 kg scale. All our facilities have been arranged in modules allowing flexibility in design of processes – see our range of equipment below.
No matter what stage your business is at, we have the facilities, space and expertise to help you innovate, scale up and grow.
Lab Space
Here at the BDC our biorefinery lab facilities are open-access, if you know what you want to do but don’t have the equipment to do it, then we can also arrange for you to spend time in our labs working alongside our experienced team. This can be on an ad hoc basis, or it can be a permanent co-working arrangement which could also include your own dedicated office space.
Renting lab space gives your company the opportunity to access specialist equipment and expertise without the initial outlay or upkeep costs as well as share the space with like-minded entrepreneurs and other companies in the bioeconomy. You can also access our dedicated researchers and support staff who are on hand to offer support and advice.
As well as our in-house scale-up facilities the BDC offers access to state-of-the-art analytical facilities in research centres based at the University of York and has an extensive network of specialist partners offering complementary services.
BDC lab and office space for hire
Meeting rooms, hot desking, virtual office package
Throughout the BDC we have flexible hot-desking, a virtual office package and meeting spaces to suit your needs. Renting a hot desk or office space gives your company the opportunity to network with like-minded entrepreneurs and other companies in the bioeconomy. You can also co-work with our dedicated researchers and support staff who are on hand to offer support and advice.
Options include;
- Hot desks £15/day; £45/week; £150/month
- Office space (shared; 2-3 people) £450 pcm (minimum term applies)
- Virtual office package; registration of company address, post handling: from £35 per month
- Meeting Rooms
- Hemp (2 -3 people) £12 per hour
- Willow (4-5 people) £20 per hour
- Hops (10-12 people) £30 per hour
BDC meeting, hot-desking, virtual office to hire (PDF)
Conference Space
At the BDC we have a unique, flexible space to hold your conferences, meetings and events (for up to 50 people) which includes both ground and mezzanine floor space, kitchen facilities and free parking. The layout of the rooms is flexible to meet your needs. Refreshments and a buffet lunch can also be provided. We offer free high speed Wifi, the use of a projector and teleconferencing. The centre also includes an innovative exhibition of everyday products made from renewable materials which aims to inspire companies and provide an educational learning space.
Hire: Full day £400 + VAT, half day £200+ VAT
BDC conference and meeting space to hire (PDF)
Get in touch
To find out what equipment and space we currently have available, please contact our Business Operations Team on 01904 328040 or email biorenewables@york.ac.uk
All our facilities have been arranged in modules allowing flexibility in design of processes, our range of equipment includes;
Fast-track breeding & Molecular analysis
Working closely with the internationally renowned CNAP, we focus high-throughput genomic technologies on improving plants and microbes for new applications. We also use molecular methodologies to investigate the microbiology of food, plant pathogens and waste.
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MiSeq Illumina sequencing platform
Used for targeted resequencing, metagenomics, small genome sequencing, targeted gene expression profiling, and more.
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Ion Torrent personal genome machine
Designed to allow the rapid sequencing of DNA or RNA
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QIAcube HT nucleic acid purification
Used for automated mid- to high-throughput nucleic acid purification
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3730 DNA Analyzer
Used for analysis of a range of DNA sequence motifs or markers
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SNPline system
Used for the analysis of single base changes in DNA sequences
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ViiA7 quantitative real time PCR system
Used to amplify and quantify a small, specific region of target DNA
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Fragment analyzer
Used to identify alterations in DNA sequences of interest
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Agilent 2200 TapeStation nucleic acids system
Ideal for the very rapid characterisation of DNA or RNA
Pre-processing
In order to get the most out of your biorenewable materials it is often necessary to prepare them for further use. This is especially the case with biomass (incl. waste), as these often have high water content and are bulky. So, we have a dedicated range of pre-processing equipment to be able to help from start to finish with your biomass – including drying, milling, pelletising and oil pressing.
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Size reduction and grading
Various items such as mills and wood chippers
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Macerator
Used for processing biomass materials with high water content
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Pelletising
Used to compress light material into the form of a pellet
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Seed processing
Ideal for working with the interesting oils found in seeds
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Fibre expansion vessel
Pressurised vessel to pre-treat biomass in various conditions
Processing
Our processing equipment allows you to move from bench-top to pilot-scale testing, and has been selected to provide enough scale for you to make commercial decisions. Biorefining and chemical processing inevitably requires separations at some point in the process, and we have a variety of equipment to do this. In addition, we also have novel demonstration equipment, including spinning cone columns, supercritical CO2 and microwave heating technologies.
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Furnace
Used to produce porous carbon-based materials
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RoboQbo 15-4
Used for processing and pre-treatment of biomass
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Microwave pyrolysis unit
Used for pyrolysis to make biochar and bio-oil from biomass
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Glass reactor suite
Used for reaction, distillation, crystallisation and extraction
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Distillation units
Used to process a wide range of heat-sensitive materials
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Supercritical carbon dioxide system
Used to separate chemicals from dry solid materials
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Filter drier
Used for separating solids and liquids, then drying them
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Chromatography (BioRad)
Used for purification and separation of complex organic mixtures
Microbiology & Anaerobic Digestion
Our hazard category II microbiology labs comprise three units: an anaerobic digestion lab, a microbial manipulations lab and a designated clean environment. Take a look below at some of the core pieces of equipment we have to help with microbial identification and quality control.
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Stomacher 400 circulator
Used to homogenise samples before microbial testing
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Surface Air System (SAS) air samplers
Used to capture micro-organisms in closed environments
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Colony Doc-It imaging station
Used to accurately count microbial colonies
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Bioreactors
Two units to allow scale up and controlled fermentation
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Anaerobic digestion (AD) plant
Pilot scale for trials and pre- and post-digestion analysis
Analytical assessments
Our wide range of technology platforms allows us to explore and characterise many different features of a material, e.g. to find what is in a sample, how it behaves or whether it is toxic. Take a look at the individual machines below and get in touch to learn how these assessments could benefit your business.
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Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS)
Used to identify compounds in materials (e.g. metal content)
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Benchtop NMR analyser
Used to measure oil, fat and moisture in oil seeds, seed cake and foodstuffs
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Oxidative stability analyser
Used to determine the oxidative stability of natural fats and oil
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High performance liquid chromatograph
Used for the separation and quantification of chemical substances (e.g. sugars)
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Gas chromatograph
Used for separation and quantification of chemical substances (e.g. oils)
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Water analysis
System to measure various characteristics of water streams