New Approaches in Bioprocess Monitoring

Mass spectrometry (MS) is one sophisticated technique that has been applied relatively recently for monitoring biotechnological processes, but mainly for the on-line detection and quantification of gases [27], MS is described in section 2.10.2. One drawback with MS is that is requires expensive equipment and is not as easy to handle as HPLC coupled to an UV-detector. Diode-array detectors (DAD) have most recently begins to be to be used for monitoring of the fermentation of wines and ethanol [28-30], 

Field flow fraction (FFF) is an elution technique suitable for molecules with a molecular weight 1000 and large molecules are beyond the scope of this thesis. However, reports on investigated substances with FFF are widespread and cover applications such as the separation and characterization of proteins [31] and enzymes [32], the separation of human and animal cells [33] and the molecular weight and particle size distribution of polymers [34, 35], FFF is a relatively new approach in biotechnology therefore practical experiences are not yet abundant. 

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