Biochemical Engineering And Its Applications

Project by Suraj Jagtap Roll No. 11CHE1059

Introduction

The ORIGIN of BIOCHEMISTRY Biochemistry emerged as a separate discipline when scientists combined biology with organic, inorganic, or physical chemistry and began to study such topics as how living things obtain energy from food, the chemical basis of heredity, and what fundamental changes occur in disease.

What is BIOCHEMISTRY?
Biology
BIOCHEMISTRY

Chemistry

Biochemistry can be described as the science concerned with the chemical constituents of living cells and with the reactions and processes they undergo. It includes the sciences of molecular biology, immunochemistry, neurochemistry, and bioinorganic, bioorganic, biotechnology and biophysical chemistry.

Has wide range of Applications

Food Sciences Textile Industry
Enzyme Engineer ing Bio Reactors
Beverage

Industry

Bio medical Agri culture Environ ment

Biotech nology
Pharmacy

Biomass prodn
Electricity

Bioinfo rmatics

Role of Biochemical Engineer

What do biochemical engineers do?
They could

Work on a new kind of fertilizer that will improve a farmer's crop yield

Design the manufacturing equipment needed to convert raw materials into everyday products

Figure out how to grow large batches of mammalian cells for use in cancerdrug testing

Discover a method for improving medicines

 Biochemical engineering is a branch of chemical engineering or biological engineering that mainly deals with the design and construction of unit processes that involve biological organisms or molecules Biochemical engineers design the manufacturing equipment that is required to convert raw materials into the products; So many of the products that we use every day, from medicine and fertilizer to packaged foods, result from the hard work of a biochemical engineer.

Bioreactor
A bioreactor is a reactor or a system that supports a biologically active environment. It is a vessel where the reaction is carried out in the presence of organisms. They are used in waste water treatment plants, pollution controlling, fermentation industries, biofuel productions, tissue cloning bioreactors etc.

Bioreactor design

Fermentation
Fermentation is the conversion of carbohydrates to alcohols and carbon dioxide or organic acids using yeasts, bacteria, or a combination thereof, under anaerobic conditions. Some of the Fermentation products Yogurt, cheese, soy products, wine, beer, bread etc.

Reactions involved in fermentation

C6H12O6 2 C2H5OH + 2 CO2

Common yeast saccharomyces cerevisae used in making wine, beer, bread by above reaction.

Fermenter

 Role of Biochemical Engineer is very crucial in design of the fermenter. They have to do lot of work in increasing the yield of the product and thus the efficiency. For that they have to design the plant with considering the chemical properties like the reaction conditions, thermodynamic factors, quality and quantity of both the reactants and the products. And the biological factors as well.

Medicine
Biochemistry and medicine are intimately related. Biochemistry helps to understand the biochemical changes and related physiological change in the body. Biochemistry deals with the functions and the role of vitamins and hormones so one can understand the problem during the treatment. Useful for making the drugs more safe and more efficient.

Environment

Cleanup of hazardous waste sites using bacteria that feed on pollutants Bacteria used for bio-remediation wastewater treatment using biological activity now we can detect toxic substances in our atmosphere using biosensors

Wastewater treatment
Water pollution is mainly because of some organic material discharged from industries into the water bodies. Some bacteria eat the organic material present in the wastewater. The organic material is transformed into cellular mass, which can be precipitated at the bottom of a settling tank or retained as slime on solid surfaces in the system.

Agriculture
In agriculture biochemistry plays a valuable role in farming, fishery, poultry, fertilizers and more. Biochemistry gives an idea of how of hormones can modulate plant growth. e.g. some hormone promote growth, some promote flowering, fruit formation etc. In fishery, use of substance to promote fish growth, their reproduction etc. can be understood. Composition of fruit produced, their alteration or even adulteration can be found by biochemical tests. Bio-insecticides for crop protection.

Biosensors
A biosensor is an analytical device for the detection of an analyte that combines a biological component with a physicochemical detector.
1. The sensitive biological element: A biologically derived material (e.g. microorganism, enzymes, antibodies) that interacts with the analyte under study. 2. The detector element: Transforms the signal resulting from the sensitive biological element.

Applications:
Glucose monitoring in diabetes patients Detection of pesticides Detection of pathogens

Algae Fuel

Algae fuel is an alternative to fossil fuel that uses algae as its source of natural deposits. Characteristics:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Can be grown with minimal impact on fresh water resources. Can be produced using ocean and wastewater. Are biodegradable. Relatively harmless to the environment if spilled. Unlike fossil fuels CO2 is taken out of the atmosphere by algae.

Microbial electrolysis cell (MEC)

MEC is the process to generate hydrogen or methane from organic material by applying an electric current. Components:
1. 2. 3. Microorganisms are attached to the cathode. Anode material can be carbon paper or graphite felt. Platinum can be used as catalyst.

Hydrogen and Methane produced are best alternatives to fossil fuels in internal combustion engines or for power production.

MEC

Biocatalyst
Biocatalysis is the use of natural catalysts, such as protein enzymes, to perform chemical transformations on organic compounds. Characteristics: 1. Enzymes show Chemoselectivity, Enantioselectivity and Regioselectivity 2. Eco-friendly since biodegradable 3. Work under mild conditions so lesser side reactions and more yield.

Biocatalysis

Recent Inventions
Tissue Engineering: Tissue cloning bioreactors are used. These are the bioreactor that artificially grows tissue in cell cultures. These reactors are useful in study of medical, pharmaceutical. It can grow heart tissue, skeletal tissue, ligaments, cancer tissue for study, and other types of tissue.

Recent Inventions
Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR): PCR is a technique, which uses different sets of equipment in order to duplicate (amplify) one or few copies of DNA into millions of copies. Its very sensitive and fast technology. Uses: Gene analysis Diagnosis of certain disease

Recent Inventions
Double Bonus: Bacteria Eat Pollution, Generate Electricity:
Scientists have found some bacteria (Desulfitobacterium) who can produce electricity and reduce pollution simultaneously. They are the future hopes for the pollution problem. These bacteria are most commonly known for their ability to breakdown and detoxify some of the most problematic environmental pollutants, including PCBs and some chemical solvents.

These bacteria are very diverse in their metabolic capabilities, including the food that they can consume. That means that these bacteria can convert a large number of different food sources into electricity and can also useful for reducing pollution. The technology could be used to assist in the reclamation of wastewaters, thereby resulting in the removal of waste and generation of electricity. As long as the bacteria are fed fuel they are able to produce electricity 24 hours a day. Still more research has to be done on this field to improve the efficiency.

References

Wikipedia Harpers Illustrated Biochemistry Biochemical Engineering- James Lee http://www.aboutbiochemistry.com http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fairprojects/science-engineeringcareers/BioChem_biochemicalengineer_c001.shtml

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