Bioprocess power consumption

Power Consumption Power consumption sometimes becomes important in industrial bioprocesses, because the power used for aeration and agitation can be highly expensive. The cost of power consumption occupies approximately 15-20% of total production cost in aerobic fermentation processes. 

The viscosity of a bioprocess liquid is an important factor, affecting mass transfer, heat transfer, and power consumption. It is affected by the concentrations and types of microorganisms, substrates, products, and solids present in the liquid, and can vary during a fermentation or separation process. Unfortunately, on-line viscosity measurements are difficult, especially when significant amounts of air bubbles and suspended solids are present, and thus viscosity probes are not in widespread use. Sensors that have been applied for viscosity determination (usually in laboratory studies) are often various types of rotational viscosimeters [42]. 

Some proton conductors have relatively high conductivities at room temperature. Introduction of these materials into electrochemical cells brings about attractive chemical sensors workable at room temperature. Potentiometric or amperometric detection of chemical components at room temperature would create new fields of application for sensors especially in bioprocess control and medical diagnosis. With an all-solid-state structure, the sensors would be compatible with micro-fabrication and mass production, and small power consumption associated with their ambient-temperature operation would be intrinsically suited for cordless or portable sensors. 

The actual industrial production processes remain proprietary for each company and the general research community is aware of only the standard bioprocess. The amino acid production process is usually fed-batch as it lowers the sugar needs, plant downtime, power consumption and increases process efficiency. The production strain used is... 

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