When developing an industrial fermentation process, the choice of the production organism dictates much of the large-scale fermentation characteristics in addition to the nature of research and development and process development. Well characterized strains with a large genetic manipulation tool set, such as Escherichia coli, can rapidly deliver R&D goals, yet E. coli tends to…
Biogas is a gas mixture developed from naturally occurring processes in nature. Basically, bacteria that exist in our world digest organic material, and the by-product of their digestion is biogas. Biogas is a mixture mainly of methane and carbon dioxide, but invariably contains many other compounds. Some of the more significant compounds are considered contaminates,…
By Gregory T. Benz, Lee Enterprises Consulting Introduction Advanced fermentation processes, both aerobic and anaerobic, have been successful on an industrial scale for quite a long time, producing a wide variety of products. In most of these processes, if any gas has been added, it has been either air or oxygen-enriched air. In the advanced bioeconomy,…
What is the optimum aspect ratio (or height/diameter ratio) is for a fermenter? The best answer is “it depends”. There is simply no universal optimum. The best design is worked on a case-by-case basis. We can list some factors that affect the optimum. Note that as aspect ratio increases, the following results are produced: The…
A fermentation expert refers to one who assists with the aerobic or anaerobic growth of bacteria, fungi, algae, and yeasts, or fungi in glass or steel vessels outfitted with temperature and other environmental controls. Solid-state fermentation is often completed in trays of media; and is a fermentation process occurring in the near absence of free liquid,…