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Related Concept Videos

Bioreactor Controls-I01:28

Bioreactor Controls-I

Maintaining optimal conditions within fermenters is essential for maximizing microbial productivity and ensuring process efficiency. This lesson focuses on key parameters—temperature, foam, pH, carbon dioxide, oxygen, and pressure—and their precise measurement and control strategies in fermentation systems.Temperature ControlTemperature regulation is critical due to the exothermic nature of many fermentation processes. In small laboratory fermenters, temperature is commonly monitored using...
Bioreactor Controls-II01:18

Bioreactor Controls-II

In aerobic fermentations, oxygen is vital for microbial growth and metabolite production. Since air comprises only about 20% oxygen and the gas is poorly soluble in water—just 9 ppm at 20°C—supplying sufficient oxygen becomes a critical challenge, especially in high-demand processes like yeast growth or citric acid production. Even a fully saturated broth may offer only a few seconds of oxygen availability.To address this, sterile or scrubbed air is introduced into the fermentor via a sparger...
Bioreactor Design and Operational System01:29

Bioreactor Design and Operational System

Bioreactors are engineered vessels designed to cultivate microorganisms under controlled conditions for industrial bioprocessing. They maintain sterility and allow precise regulation of pH, temperature, oxygen, and nutrient levels to optimize microbial growth and metabolite production. Bioreactors range from small laboratory units of 1 liter to industrial systems holding up to 500,000 liters, though only about 75% of their volume is actively used for fermentation. The remaining headspace...
Bioremediation00:46

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Bioremediation is the use of prokaryotes, fungi, or plants to remove pollutants from the environment. This process has been used to remove harmful toxins in groundwater as a byproduct of agricultural run-off and also to clean up oil spills.
Bioreactor Controls-III01:22

Bioreactor Controls-III

Strain improvement is a foundational strategy in industrial microbiology aimed at maximizing microbial productivity, particularly because natural isolates typically yield commercially valuable products in very low concentrations. Although optimizing the culture medium and environmental conditions can improve yields, these adjustments are inherently limited by the organism’s genetic potential. As a result, the focus shifts toward genetic modifications to enhance biosynthetic capacity. The...
Scale-Up Processes01:14

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The scale-up of microbial fermentation processes is essential in industrial biotechnology, allowing the transition from laboratory-scale experiments to commercial-scale production while aiming to maintain product yield and quality. This process requires meticulous adjustment of equipment design, process parameters, and contamination control strategies to accommodate increasing culture volumes.At the laboratory scale, cultures are typically maintained in 1 to 10-liter glass or autoclavable...

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Light-Controlled Fermentations for Microbial Chemical and Protein Production
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Controlling autonomous underwater floating platforms using bacterial fermentation.

Justin C Biffinger1, Lisa A Fitzgerald, Erinn C Howard

  • 1Chemistry Division, US Naval Research Laboratory, 4555 Overlook Ave., SW, Washington, DC 20375, USA. justin.biffinger@nrl.navy.mil

Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology
|August 2, 2012
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Biogenic gas from Clostridium acetobutylicum can repressurize gas cylinders and control ballast for underwater devices. This microbial gas production offers a novel renewable energy application for autonomous systems.

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Area of Science:

  • Microbiology
  • Biotechnology
  • Autonomous Systems Engineering

Background:

  • Biogenic gas has diverse energy applications.
  • Autonomous underwater devices require reliable ballast regeneration systems.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explore the novel application of microbial biogenic gas for autonomous underwater device ballast regeneration.
  • To characterize biogas production by Clostridium acetobutylicum under different flow conditions.

Main Methods:

  • Performed continuous and blocked flow experiments using Clostridium acetobutylicum in a gelatinous matrix.
  • Analyzed biogas composition and pressure generation.
  • Inoculated a 5% agar and 5% glucose matrix.

Main Results:

  • Blocked flow experiments generated a maximum pressure of 55 psi over 48 hours, with biogas composed of 60% hydrogen.
  • Continuous flow experiments demonstrated biogas delivery for ballast control.
  • Typical pressures ranged from 10 to 33 psi over 24 hours at 318 K.

Conclusions:

  • Microbial gas production can be utilized for repressurizing gas cylinders, a novel application.
  • Biogas delivery via continuous flow is feasible for autonomous underwater platforms.
  • This research serves as a foundation for integrating biological systems into autonomous technology.