Premium
Challenges in industrial fermentation technology research
Author(s) -
Formenti Luca Riccardo,
Nørregaard Anders,
Bolic Andrijana,
Hernandez Daniela Quintanilla,
Hagemann Timo,
Heins AnnaLena,
Larsson Hilde,
Mears Lisa,
MauricioIglesias Miguel,
Krühne Ulrich,
Gernaey Krist V.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
biotechnology journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.144
H-Index - 84
eISSN - 1860-7314
pISSN - 1860-6768
DOI - 10.1002/biot.201300236
Subject(s) - biochemical engineering , context (archaeology) , relevance (law) , computer science , process (computing) , scaling , bioreactor , process engineering , microbiology and biotechnology , engineering , chemistry , biology , mathematics , paleontology , geometry , organic chemistry , political science , law , operating system
Abstract Industrial fermentation processes are increasingly popular, and are considered an important technological asset for reducing our dependence on chemicals and products produced from fossil fuels. However, despite their increasing popularity, fermentation processes have not yet reached the same maturity as traditional chemical processes, particularly when it comes to using engineering tools such as mathematical models and optimization techniques. This perspective starts with a brief overview of these engineering tools. However, the main focus is on a description of some of the most important engineering challenges: scaling up and scaling down fermentation processes, the influence of morphology on broth rheology and mass transfer, and establishing novel sensors to measure and control insightful process parameters. The greatest emphasis is on the challenges posed by filamentous fungi, because of their wide applications as cell factories and therefore their relevance in a White Biotechnology context. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is introduced as a promising tool that can be used to support the scaling up and scaling down of bioreactors, and for studying mixing and the potential occurrence of gradients in a tank.