UNIT I

BASIC CONCEPTS OF BIOPROCESS

LESSON 1
INTRODUCTION TO BIOPROCESS
INTRODUCTION TO BIOPROCESS

Objectives The bench top fermenter usually is of 1 to 2 liter capacity. It is

BIOPROCESS ENGINEERING
After this session you will be able to equipped with instruments for measuring and adjusting
• Understand the term Bioprocess • Temperature
• Working of the fermentors • pH
Introduction to Bioprocess • Dissolve O2
When our early ancestors made alcoholic beverages, they used a • Concentration of substrate
bioprocess. • Concentration of product
The combination of yeast cells and nutrients (cereal grains) • Agitator speed
formed a fermentation system in which the organisms con-
• Other process variables
sumed the nutrients for their own growth and produced
by-products (alcohol and carbon dioxide gas) that helped to Process can be more closely controlled than in Shake flask
make the beverage. Bioprocess technology is an extension of experiments. Information is collected on
ancient techniques for developing useful products by taking • O2 requirements of the cells
advantage of natural biological activities such as production of • Sensitivity of the cells to shear
enzymes (used, for example, in food processing and waste
• Foaming characteristics
management) and antibiotics. Use of living material offers
several advantages over conventional chemical methods of Many proteins and polymers produced will cause extensive
production. They usually require lower temperature, pressure, foaming. The main concern of this study is whether optimal
and pH. They can use renewable resources as raw materials and conditions can be provided or not for the cell growth in a
greater quantities can be produced with less energy consump- reactor and their determination. Information gathered from
tion. With the development of automated and computerized this study is used for the further scale-up of the bioreactor. The
equipment, it is becoming much easier to accurately monitor information obtained includes:
reaction conditions and thus increase production efficiency. As • Mass transfer coefficients (concentration gradients)
advances in bioprocess technology, particularly separation and • Mixing time (a parameter used for determining mixing
purification techniques, are made, commercial firms will be able efficiency)
to economically produce these substances in large amounts, and
• Gas hold up
thus make them available for use in medical research, food
processing, agriculture, pharmaceutical development, waste
management, and numerous other fields of science and ∈= Vg
industry. ————
Knowledge of the metabolism of microbial cells is indispens- Vg + VL
able for (a) the optimization of bioreactor operation, (b) the
selection of the best microorganism for a given biochemical Vg is the volume of gas bubbles in the reactor
conversion, (c) targeted or evolutionary improvement of an
VL is the volume of liquid
existing microorganism and (d) design (metabolic engineering)
of microorganisms with new reactivities and/or morphology.
This helps improve the efficiency of bioprocesses by focusing Power number P
on microbial performance. —————
Growth and production characteristics of the microorganisms r N3 D5
or cell culture must be measured as a function of environment. P is the power required
Shake flasks of 250 ml to 1 liter capacity are used for these r is the viscosity
experiments. Varying conditions for optimal growth of
Ni3 is the stirrer speed
microorganisms and their productivity are medium composi-
tion, pH, temperature and other environmental conditions. Di5 is the impeller diameter
How is the working of the bench top fermenter which is also a • Impeller shear rate
bioreactor works? It is also decided whether the bioreactor must be operated for
Bench Top Fermenter (bioreactor) batch process or continuous process. At this stage, the
This is the first step of the scale up process for large-scale commercial viability of the process is also evaluated.
operation of the bioprocess for which optimum conditions for
the growth are established in the shake flask experiments above.

© Copy Right: Rai University

2.203 1
BIOPROCESS ENGINEERING

Pilot Scale Bioreactor (10 – 1000 liters)

You can clearly see the increasing role of engineering science
from this step onward. The aim of the pilot scale is to examine
the response of the cells to scale-up. Operation of the same
process in a larger vessel outwardly may appear relative trivial.
However, loss in performance of the cells occurs when size is
changed. Even though the geometry of the reactor, the method
of aeration, mixing, impeller design and other features may be
similar in small and large fermenters, the effect on activity of
cells can be great. The loss of productivity due to scale-up may
or may not be recovered. Therefore, reevaluation of economic
feasibility may be necessary from the results of pilot scale
findings.
Review Question
• What do you understand by the term bioprocess?
• How does a bioreactor works?

Notes:

© Copy Right: Rai University

2 2.203