Fermenter reactors

Biochemical pathways consist of networks of individual reactions that have many feedback mechanisms. This makes their study and the elucidation of kinetics of individual reaction steps and their regulation so difficult. Nevertheless, important inroads have already been achieved. Much of this has been done by studying the metabolism of microorganisms in fermentation reactors. 

Interfacial Phenomena These can significantly affect overall mass transfer. In fermentation reactors, small quantities of surface-active agents (especially antifoaming agents) can drastically reduce overall oxygen transfer (Aiba et al., op. cit., pp. 153, 154), and in aerobic... 

Small scale equipment used for reactor process development in the biochemical field, such as small scale fermentation reactors and closed loop reactors, have their merits for general reactor development. These reactors may be as large as 20 liters in volume, and are well equipped and instrumented. They are not reviewed, however, in this book. 

Figure 7.4 Collection of commercial Raman probes designed for different installations (a) laboratory scale probe with interchangeable immersion or noncontact optics, shown with immersion option (b) probe shown in (a) installed in laboratory fermentation reactor (c) production scale immersion probe (d) probe shown in (c) installed in a glass reactor (e) gas phase probe with flow through cell (f) probe shown in (e) installed in process piping (g) wide area illumination (WAI) noncontact probe after completion of a pharmaceutical tablet coating operation. Adapted, with permission. Copyright 2004 Kaiser Optical Systems, Inc.

In a multiphase membrane reactor, the conversion of benzylpenicillin to 6-aminopenidllinic acid is performed. The type of microstructured reactor used is a fermentation reactor which contains the enzyme penicillin acylase immobilized on the wall of a hollow-fiber tube. The hollow-fiber tube extracts 6-aminopenicillinic acid at the same time selectively. Benzylpenicillin is converted at the outer wall of the hollow fiber into the desired product, which passes into the sweep stream inside the fiber where it can be purified, e.g. by ion exchange. The non-converted benzylpenicillin is recycled back through the reactor [84],... 

In fermentation reactors, cell growth is promoted or maintained to produce metabolite, biomass, transformed substrate, or purified solvent. Systems based on macro-organism cultures are usually referred as tissue cultures. Those based on dispersed non-tissue forming cultures of micro-organisms are loosely referred as microbial reactors. In enzyme reactors, substrate transformation is promoted without the life-support system of whole cells. Frequently, these reactors employ immobilized enzymes, where an enzyme is supported on inert solids so that it can be reused in the process. Virtually all bioreactors of technological importance deal with a heterogeneous system involving more than two phases. 

The conventional mechanically agitated reactors are generally susceptible to foaming for the fermentation reactors. The foaming causes an additional barrier to effective transport rates and reactor operation. 

Important progress was also made in chemical engineering, such as use of rotary compressors in ammonia synthesis or ICI s fermentation reactors in Billingham to produce the Pruteen protein from methanol reactors, having no mobile parts. 

Storage tanks and fermenter reactors should be pressure and temperature controlled. The high-pressure vessels should not be located near sources of heat, such as radiators, boilers, or furnaces and if in an open area they should be covered. 

Another breakthrough in fermentation and human welfare was the discovery of penicillin. It was the first antibiotic and the first really effective medication against bacterial infections. It was also the first high-cost product of fermentation and it started the development of high-tech fermentation reactors. 

Yeast concentration in fermentation reactor at steady state, 3 wt%. 

Acknowledgements We would like to acknowledge Drs. E. Timothy Davies and Zeynep Cvetkovich for support with the small fermentation reactor, and Ms. Ammta Jangid for her technical assistance. 

Fig. 4 Influence of HRT on the performance of the upflow hydrogen fermentation reactor (glucose culture medium 20 g COD/L, initial pH 8.0). Data were collected when they were stable for more than 12 h...

---