Fermentation equipment

Superior penicillin producing cultures ate capable of producing in excess of 30 mg/mL of penicillin G (154). Cephalosporin producing strains, however, generally grow poorly and cephalosporin C production is not as efficient as is that of penicillin. Factors such as strain maintenance, strain improvement, fermentation development, inoculum preparation, and fermentation equipment requkements ate discussed in the hterature (3,154). 

The P-lactam antibiotics ate produced by secondary metaboHc reactions that differ from those responsible for the growth and reproduction of the microorganism. In order to enhance antibiotic synthesis, nutrients must be diverted from the primary pathways to the antibiotic biosynthetic sequences. Although most media for the production of penicillins and cephalosporins are similar, they ate individually designed for the specific requkements of the high yielding strains and the fermentation equipment used. 

Table 4.13 Relative costs of fermentation equipment for various SCP processes.

As a rule of thumb, total investment of the fermentation plant is 50 dollars per litre of bioreactor. This means the total costs of investment are 200,000 x 50 = 10 million dollars. This figure includes all costs concerning engineering, fermentation equipment, recovery equipment, buildings land, etc. 

The most significant cost of fermentation equipment is usually the bioreactor. However, for fungal SCP processes from sulphite waste liquor, the cooling system is the most significant cost. See Table 4.13. 

Several factors affect the overall economics of PHA production. These include PHA productivity, PHA content, yield of PHA on carbon source, carbon substrate cost, and recovery method employed. Figure 1 shows the production costs of P(3HB) by various P(3HB) contents and P(3HB) productivities [29]. The effect of P(3HB) productivity on the production cost is only related to the cost of the fermentation equipment [18]. However, the P(3HB) content has multiple effects on the volume of the fermentation equipment and the recovery process [17,18]. The increase of P(3HB) yield on carbon source and the use of less expensive carbon substrates reduce the cost of carbon substrate [17, 29]. Development of an efficient recovery method, which will be different for each bacterium employed, is also important to overall economics of PHA production. When the actual fermentation processes employing many different re-... 

Low capital investments (i.e. relatively low-cost animals replace high-cost traditional fermentation equipment) and low running costs. 

Figure 5.8 Typical industrial-scale fermentation equipment as employed in the biopharmaceutical sector (a). Control of the fermentation process is highly automated, with all fermentation parameters being adjusted by computer (b). Photographs (a) and (b) courtesy of SmithKline Beecham Biological Services, s.a., Belgium. Photograph (c) illustrates the inoculation of a laboratory-scale fermenter with recombinant microorganisms used in the production of a commercial interferon preparation. Photograph (c) courtesy of Pall Life Sciences, Dublin, Ireland...

Figure 3.14. (a) Typical industrial-scale fermentation equipment as employed in the biopharmaceutical... 

An aerated stirred-tank fermenter equipped with a standard Rushton turbine of the following dimensions contains a liquid with density p = 1010kgm and viscosity n = 9.8 X 10 Pa s. The tank diameter D is 0.90 m, liquid depth Hl = 0.90 m, impeller diameter d = 0.30 m. The oxygen diffusivity in the liquid Dl is 2.10 X 10 5 cm- s T Estimate the stirrer power required and the volumetric mass transfer coefficient of oxygen (use Equation 7.36b), when air is supplied from the tank bottom at a rate of 0.60 m min at a rotational stirrer speed of 120 rpm, that is 2.0 s T... 

Sterilization can be accomplished by several means, including heat, chemicals, radiation (ultraviolet (UV) or y-ray), and microfiltration. Heat is widely used for the sterilization of media and fermentation equipment, while microfiltration, using polymeric microporous membranes, can be performed to sterilize the air and media that might contain heat-sensitive components. Among the various heating methods, moist heat (i.e., steam) is highly effective and very economical for performing the sterilization of fermentation set-ups. 

Commercial practice varies as to the timing of this addition. Some winemakers add sugar to the must just prior to fermentation. Others add it after fermentation is underway. The choice seems to depend largely on the fermentation equipment and individual preference. 

The optimum agitation speed for the cultivation of plant cells in a 3-L fermenter equipped with four baffles was found to be 150 rpm. 

Nomura, Y., Iwahara, M., and Hongo, M. 1994. Production of acetic acid by Clostridium thermo-aceticum in electrodialysis culture using a fermenter equipped with an electrodialyzer. World J. Microb. Biotechnol 10, 427 132. 

Strege, M.A., Stinger,T.L., Farrell, B.T., Lagu, A.L., Total organic carbon analysis of swab samples for the cleaning validation of bioprocess fermentation equipment. BioPharm April 1996. 

As described in US Patent 2,916,485 12 liters of a nutrient medium having the following composition is placed in a 30 liter fermenter equipped with stainless steel fittings including sparger, impeller, baffles and sampling lines and the medium is sterilized by heating at 121°C for two hours. 

The pH of the latter nutrient medium is adjusted to 7.5 with 10 N sodium hydroxide solution and is placed in a 30 liter glass fermenter equipped with... 

The technology for their use, industrial-scale fermentation equipment, is already available (see Section 12.8.1). 

To establish a semi-large scale cultivation of the hairy roots, Pn-H-6, which showed the strongest GUS expression, was cultured in a 6 1 air-lift type fermenter and the production of phenolics was examined. Ca. 7.9 g (fw) of Pn-H-6 was inoculated into hormone-free 1/2 MS liquid medium in the fermenter equipped with a paddle (20 rpm) and supplied with air (3(X) ml/min) in the light. The hairy roots grew satisfactorily and the weight of the roots reached ca 694 g (fw) after 7 weeks of culture. In this culture, some hairy roots (Pn-H-6a) were cut by the paddle and formed a globular mass of ca 3 cm in the diameter. The contents of phenolics both in Pn-H-6a and... 

Suppliers of standard cell culture fermentation equipment are ... 

Refs Abou-Chaar 1961 Adams 1964 Amici 1966 1967 1969 Arcamone 1961 Berman 1954 Brady 1960 Cherewick 1956 Hareven 1970 Kelleher 1969 1971 Memtle 1969 1976 Michener 1950 Mizrahi 1968 Ogunlana 1969 Pacifici 1962 1963 Paul 1954 Ramstad 1955 Societa Farmaceutici Italia 1961 Taber 1966 lyier 1954) After several strains have been obtained, they are then cultivated industrially in large fermenters, which are just large pressure cookers. Large equipment is impractical for most individuals. Canning jars or pressure cookers can be successfully used. Industrial Fermentation Equipment (Cleverdon 1955) (Dworschack 1954) (Fuld 1957). 

The most sigruficant cost of fermentation equipment is the air compression system/the bioreactor/the sterilising system/the cooling... 

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