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Related Concept Videos

Scale-Up Processes01:14

Scale-Up Processes

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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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Bioreactor Controls-III01:22

Bioreactor Controls-III

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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...
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Bioreactor Controls-II01:18

Bioreactor Controls-II

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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...
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Batch vs Continuous Culture01:14

Batch vs Continuous Culture

239
Fermentation is a foundational biotechnological process used to produce pharmaceuticals, biofuels, enzymes, and food additives. Among industrial strategies, batch and continuous fermentation are the two most widely applied. Although both rely on microbial conversion of substrates into desired products, they differ markedly in operation, productivity, and suitability for specific applications.Batch fermentation occurs in a closed system in which nutrient media and inoculum are added at the...
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Production of Antibiotics01:27

Production of Antibiotics

265
Penicillin, one of the earliest and most widely used antibiotics, is produced industrially by the filamentous fungus Penicillium chrysogenum. Large stirred-tank bioreactors ranging from tens to hundreds of thousands of liters maintain tightly controlled temperature, pH, and dissolved oxygen conditions to support fungal metabolism and maximize antibiotic yield. Penicillin is a secondary metabolite, synthesized primarily during the stationary growth phase, which requires a carefully managed...
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Bioreactor Design and Operational System01:29

Bioreactor Design and Operational System

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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...
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Challenges in industrial fermentation technology research.

Luca Riccardo Formenti1, Anders Nørregaard, Andrijana Bolic

  • 1Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark (DTU), Lyngby, Denmark.

Biotechnology Journal
|May 22, 2014
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Industrial fermentation uses engineering tools like mathematical models for sustainability. Key challenges include scaling, morphology effects, and new sensors, especially for filamentous fungi in white biotechnology.

Keywords:
Computational fluid dynamicsFermentation process developmentFungal morphologyIndustrial biotechnologyModelingScale-down bioreactors

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Area of Science:

  • Biotechnology
  • Chemical Engineering

Background:

  • Industrial fermentation is a growing sustainable alternative to fossil fuel-based chemical production.
  • Fermentation processes lag behind chemical processes in adopting engineering tools like mathematical modeling and optimization.
  • Filamentous fungi are crucial cell factories in White Biotechnology, presenting unique process challenges.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To provide an overview of engineering tools applicable to industrial fermentation.
  • To highlight key engineering challenges in fermentation processes, including scale-up, scale-down, morphology impacts, and sensor development.
  • To emphasize the specific challenges and opportunities related to filamentous fungi in fermentation.

Main Methods:

  • Review of engineering tools such as mathematical models and optimization techniques.
  • Discussion of critical engineering challenges: process scaling, rheology, mass transfer, and sensor implementation.
  • Introduction of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) as a tool for bioreactor analysis.

Main Results:

  • Fermentation processes require advanced engineering tools for maturity and efficiency.
  • Morphology significantly impacts broth rheology and mass transfer in fermentation systems.
  • Novel sensors are needed for effective process monitoring and control.
  • CFD offers potential solutions for bioreactor design, scale-up, and gradient analysis.

Conclusions:

  • Addressing engineering challenges is vital for advancing industrial fermentation, particularly for filamentous fungi.
  • The integration of mathematical models, optimization, and advanced tools like CFD is essential for process improvement.
  • Further research into morphology-rheology-mass transfer relationships and novel sensing technologies will enhance fermentation efficiency in White Biotechnology.