Fermentation plant

For pilot scale production of volatile compounds, pilot plant fermentations are usually carried out at the 20-150 liter scale. 

This section will discuss the general problems that arise in pilot plant, fermentation and scale-up. The section will focus on three main topics (i) bioreactors and culture techniques, (ii) the application of computer and sensing technologies to fermentation, and (Hi) the scale-up itself... 

Capacity of the plant Fermentation volume Productivity Biomass concentration Ethanol concentration Acetic acid concentration Substrate consumption Ethanol in pervaporate Inlet dilution rate Product dilution rate Medium bleed rate Cell bleed rate Recirculation rate Pervaporation area Microfiltration area Investment fermentor Investment distillation Investment pervaporation Investment microfiltration Total capital cost Depreciation membranes Molasses and nutrients Steam Electricity Process water Cooling water Total production costs... 

Some pharmaceutical companies employ entire departments of B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. organic chemists to screen natural products for novel, pharmacologically active compounds. These natural products may originate in plants, fermentation broths, or animal matter. Scientists make the extractions and prepare the extracts for screening. Working in these departments, they also isolate, purify, characterize, and identify the compounds responsible for the activity. Biological assays direct the work, so that inactive substances squander no efforts or resources. 

J. Knablein, Biotech A New Era in the New Millennium - From Plant Fermentation to Plant Expression of Biopharmaceuticals, PDA International Congress, Prague, Czech Republic, 2003. 

Acevedo F, Gentina JC (1996) Development of a pilot-plant fermentation process for the production of yeast lactase. Ann NY Acad Sci 799 559-562 Acevedo F, Gentina JC, lllanes A (eds) (2004) Fundamentos de ingenieria bioqufmica, 2 edici6n. 

Although LAB are ubiquitous microorganisms widespread in a plethora of niches, they have complex nutritional requirements for amino acids, vitamins, minerals, fatty acids, peptides, nucleotide bases, and carbohydrates. These microorganisms can be found in plants, fermented foods, the gastrointestinal... 

Hambleton, P., Griffiths, J.B., Cameron, D.R. and Melling, J. (1991). A high containment polymodal pilot-plant fermenter - design concepts, J. Chem. Tech. BiotechnoL, 50, 167-180. 

Microbial fermentation is the most widely used method for amino acid production. The process economics includes raw material costs, location of the plant, fermentation yield, purification costs, and overall productivity. Even though majority of the amino acids in industries are produced by fermentation and follows a generalized pattern, the process flow in each industry are customized, trademarked, and used exclusively by them. In amino acid production industries, the standard bioprocess involves upstream processing, fermentation, and the downstream processing. 

In the field of industrial pharmaceutical analysis the situation is different, because TLC instrumentation has reached a relatively high level. In some special application areas, such as the analysis of the extracts of medicinal plants, fermentation mixtures, etc., modem TLC (precoated or HPTLC layers, densitometric evaluation) has a distinct role, because the interference of so-called unknown background materials can be more easily eliminated than with other chromatographic techniques. Many chromatographers working in the pharmaceutical industry prefer to use reversed phase HPLC in conjunction with normal phase TLC or HPTLC to analyze raw materials for purity and impurities as well as for stability testing. 

Paca, J., P. Ettler, and V. Gr gr (1976). Hydrodynamic behaviour and oxygen transfer rate in a pilot plant fermenter 1. Influence of viscosity, J. Appl Chem. Biotechnol, 26(6), 309-317. 

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