Call for partners | BRIDGE: Translating Laboratory Insights to Industrial‑Scale

Laboratory studies on emulsification and gelation are widely used across academia and industry to assess ingredient techno‑functionality. These small‑scale tests provide valuable insights into parameters such as droplet formation, viscoelastic behaviour, and processability. However, lab‑scale results often fail to translate to pilot or industrial scale. Key parameters such as shear conditions, energy density, flow regimes, heat transfer, and geometry of containers differ substantially. This mismatch leads to repeated reformulations, long iteration cycles, increased costs, and uncertainty in ingredient performance under pragmatic processing conditions.

BRIDGE addresses this challenge by systematically investigating the scaling principles governing emulsion and gel formation.

Using both experimental measurements and modelling approaches (e.g. flow simulations, energy‑dissipation modelling, heat‑transfer estimation), BRIDGE will map the scaling relationships for a diverse set of emulsification and gelation technologies. Such technologies include high‑pressure homogenizers, microfluidizers, ultrasound systems, and mixing devices. This combined approach enables the project to distinguish where simple scaling laws (e.g. geometric) are sufficient and where physics simulation‑driven corrections are necessary.

A key aspect is establishing experimentally validated scale‑up and scale‑down relations. For example, how sample size, geometry, residence time, flow regime, and heat‑transfer etc. influence droplet size distributions, flow behaviour, gel formation and gel behaviour. The project will also address the limitations of downscaling. Minimum meaningful sample volumes and the conditions will be identified under which lab-scale experiments do not significantly alter the results from higher scales, which is gaining importance to test small volumes of novel protein sources early on, e.g. samples from precision fermentation or microbial biomass.

The main outcome of the project for industrial partners is a comprehensive toolbox including:

• Critical process parameters and how to monitor them at different scales
• Experimentally and model‑supported scaling relations for key equipment
• Guidance on translating laboratory data into industrial process settings
• Harmonized small‑scale methods with documented links to larger‑scale behaviour

In short, BRIDGE will enable companies to design more robust scale‑up strategies, reduce dependency on trial‑and‑error, and streamline the translation of laboratory innovations to industrial production.