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BASIC INDUSTRIAL
MICROBIOLOGY
FERMENTATION
TECHNOLOGY
STRUCTURE OF A BATCH
BIOREACTOR
Fermenter
Are structures designed to optimize the growth
conditions of the specific organisms that we
want
Control oxygen, pH, medium, temperature
and nutrients antifoaming
Stirred tank reactor
Air lift reaction
STRUCTURE OF A BATCH
BIOREACTOR
Basic function of a fermenter:
to provide a controlled environment for the
growth of microorganism or a defined mixture of
microorganism to obtain desired product.
Two basic types of fermenter are used:
1) A glass vessel with round or flat bottom and a
top flanged carrying plate.
2) A glass cylinder with stainless steel top and
bottom plates.
The thickness of construction materials increase with
scale.
It is important to select materials that can withstand
repeated steam sterilization.
Factors to be considered:
1) Vessel should be capable of being operated
aseptically- for a no of days/ long operation.
2) Adequate aeration and agitation- mixing should
not cause damage to the organism.
3) Power consumption- should be low as possible.
4) Temperature controlled system.
5) pH controlled system.
6) Sampling facilities should be provided.
7) Evaporation losses from the fermenter should not
be excessive.
8) Vessel should be designed to require the minimal
use of labour in operation, harvesting, cleaning
and maintenance.
9) The vessel should be suitable for a range of
process.
10) The vessel should be constructed to ensure
smooth internal surfaces, using welds instead of
flange joints whenever possible.
11) The vessel should be of similar geometry to both
smaller and larger vessels in the pilot plant or
plant to facilitate scale up.
12) The cheapest materials which enable
satisfactory results to be achieved should be
used
13) Should be adequate service provisions for
individual plants.
INDUSTRIAL FERMENTORS
Side view
Side view
Top view
Fermentor sizes for Industrial
Processes
Size of
Product
Fermentor (L)
Factors to be considered:
Quality consistence and availability.
Ensure there are no problems with media prep
or other aspects of production process.
Ex: Sugar cane, molasses
MEDIA FORMULATION
Basic requirement of microorganism:
Water
Source of energy carbon, nitrogen, mineral
element, vitamin
Oxygen (if aerobes)
5) Government legislation.
Ex: European Economy Community (EEC): the use of
beet sugar and molasses is encouraged and the
minimum price controlled.
Examples of carbon source:
1) Carbohydrates:
Starch (maize, potato, cassava)
Barley grains
Sucrose (Sugar cane and sugar beet)
Molasses (Beet or cane molasses)
Lactose and crude lactose (Milk whey powder)
Corn steep liquor (by product after starch
extraction from maize)
2) Oils and Fats
Oils: carriers for antifoams in antibiotic processes,
contain fatty acids, oleic, linoleic and linolenic
acid.
Ex: vegetables oils (olive, maize, cotton seed,
tinseed, soya bean etc)
3) Hydrocarbon and derivatives.
Using n-alkanes for production of organic acid,
amino acid, vitamin, protein etc.
Nitrogen source
Divided into:
1) Organic: amino acid, protein, urea
2) Inorganic: ammonia gas, ammonium salts or nitrates
Factors influencing the choice of nitrogen source:
1) Metabolic regulation.
Ex: control mechanism of nitrate reductase enzyme
involved in conversion of nitrate to ammonium ion,
repressed by ammonia)
2) Type of product.
Ex: Antibiotic production is influenced by the type of
nitrogen source, may be inhibited by ammonium,
nitrate or certain amino acid.
3) Pre-determined aspects of process.
Ex: Limiting substrate.
Mineral Element
Microorganism require certain mineral element for:
Growth
Metabolism
Macro element: Magnesium, phosphorus,
potassium, calcium and chlorine.
Essential component of media
Added as distinct component.
Trace element: Copper, iron, molybdenum and
zinc.
Essential but usually present as impurities in other
major ingredients.
Chelators
Insoluble metal phosphate may be eliminated
by incorporating low concentration of chelating
agents such as EDTA (ethylene diamine tetra
acetic acid), citric acid, polyphosphates.
Large Scale
Chromatography System
Lab Scale
Chromatography System