Bioproducts, Sciences, and Engineering Laboratory (BSEL)
The BSEL will be a multipurpose facility including operating space for all activities required in the research and development of the science and engineering of processes for bio-based product manufacture. The building is being constructed on a site on the campus of Washington State University (WSU) Tri-Cities, approximately one mile south of the main campus of PNNL.
A key feature of the BSEL is the Biorefinery, which is a 2500 square foot high-bay facility for integration and scale-up of the various processing steps in bioproducts manufacture. In addition to the Biorefinery, plans for the BSEL include high-pressure catalytic reactor rooms (for hydrogenation and other chemical processing); bioprocessing labs for development and engineering of fungal fermentations; and supporting wet chemical labs for synthesis and preparation of catalysts and feedstocks; the Combinatorial Catalysis research laboratory, analytical chemistry including chromatography and spectroscopy; and process engineering research and development.
As a part of the WSU Tri-Cities campus, the BSEL will have a key role in education. Plans for it contain both classrooms and teaching laboratories. It will house faculty and will have their research labs and space for graduate student research, as well.
Publications describe the preparatory work in bringing the BSEL to reality and support for the facility as an asset to the community, state, and nation.
Detailed design funding for the BSEL in the 2003-2005 biennium was secured from the State of Washington. SRG Partnership of Portland, Oregon, was selected as the architect and the detailed design has been completed. The construction phase was initiated May 1, 2006 and occupancy is expected to follow in 2007.
Learn more about the BSEL (.pdf, 1.1mb).
