FERMENTATION

By:
Engr. VERA MARIE L. LANARIA
ChE Department
CIT University
FERMENTATION

derived from the latin word FERVERE (to

boil) which describes the evolution of
carbon dioxide bubbles in anaerobic
conditions by the action of yeast on fruit
juices
General Requirements of Fermentation
Process

a microorganism for carrying out the bioconversion

a substrate to get converted to useful products
maintenance of fermentation conditions
a provision for recovery and purification of the
products
effluent-treatment section
facilities for packing and marketing
Range of Fermentation Process
Food and beverages
Industrial solvents
Antibiotics and Vaccines
Enzymes
Organic acids
Animal feeds
Effluent disposal
Agricultural and related areas
Design and Construction of Fermenter

operating under aseptic conditions continuously for

long periods of time
interplay of the transport parameters
ability to control various fermentation process
parameters
supply of adequate quantity of oxygen
power requirement for mixing should be minimum
Cont.

adequate amount of mixing should be ensured

without causing damage to the cells
flexibility in operation of the fermenter for various
purposes, so that the vessel should be suitable for a
range of processes
the vessel geometry should be such that it should
facilitate scale-up
operating costs should be minimum
Media Design for Fermentation
Medium requirements:
carbon
nitrogen
energy source
minerals
other nutrients like vitamins, etc.
oxygen/air for aerobic processes
water
For large-scale productions, the following attributes
are a must:
It should be cheap and easily available at a consistent
cost and quality.
It should have higher productivity.
The rate of formation of the product should be high.
It should minimize the formation of undesired
products.
Carbon Source

is provided by molasses, starches, and some cereals

like maize, tubers like potatoes, cassava, sucrose,
glucose, and lactose
it also provides the energy requirements for the
medium
cost also matters
Nitrogen Source

ammonia and salts of ammonia (e.g. ammonium

sulphate or nitrate) are common sources which
provides both acidic and basic environment
Amino acids, proteins or urea serve as organic
sources of nitrogen (ex. Soya beans, corn steep
liquor, casein hydrolysate, yeast extract, etc.)
Energy Source

comes either from the oxidation of the medium

constituents or from the light
Minerals

minerals like Mg and P are needed for energy

transport reactions involving ATP
other important minerals are K, S, Ca
minerals in trace amounts are: Fe, Co, Cu, Zn, Mn,
and Mo are also important
Other nutrients (vitamins)

if only one vitamin is required, it is economical to

add it to the medium in the pure form
(ex. Calcium pantothenate is required for the
production of vinegar)
Oxygen/Air

for aerobic fermentation process, oxygen is supplied

from outside by sparging air
Water

it is a major component in the preparation of the

medium
It is also used for most of the peripheral services
like cleaning, etc.
a good source of quality water is an important
aspect in the selection of the location of the plant
Simple and Complex Media

it depends on the type of microorganism used

(whether autotrophs or heterotrophic)

Autotrophs generally require simple inorganic media:

inorganic salts, water, nitrogen source, carbon source
(usually carbon dioxide from air)
ANOTHER CLASSIFICATION OF MEDIA

Synthetic medium

Crude medium
SYNTHETIC MEDIUM

all constituents are specifically defined and added

more or less in pure form
their composition and concentrations are pre-defined
 Advantages of Synthetic Medium

It will help in reproducibility of the results from time to

time because the composition of the medium is well-
defined.
The problem of foaming is minimized since the foaming
agents like proteins and high molecular weight peptides
are absent.
Recovery and purification of the fermentation products
are much easier, since medium can be designed by
avoiding the interfering components.
Disadvantage

Higher cost of the medium

 Crude Medium

It does not have any of the advantages of the

synthetic medium.
Their compositions are not defined.
They are available as they are.
The main feature is its economic advantage.
It also contains the sources of C and N in a form that
can be easily consumed by the microorganisms.
Anaerobic Fermentation

It is carried out without the presence of oxygen/air.

Most of the anaerobic fermentation produce carbon
dioxide gas which covers the surface and act as a
blanket to prevent the effect of oxygen.
Aerobic Fermentation

It is carried out in the presence of air/oxygen.

3 categories of aerobic fermentation:
a) For growing organisms on solid or semi-solid
medium in the presence of air, and this is known
as solid state fermentation (SSF).
b) For growing organism in liquid medium, air is not
specifically blown or sparged, but air helps the
growth of organisms. Air enters into the system
a cotton plug kept on the top.
c) Air is dispersed in the form of fine bubbles through
a sparger.
Types of Bioreactors

Stirred tanks
Bubble columns
Packed beds
Fluidised beds
Trickle beds
Airlift towers, etc.
Classifications of Bioreactors (based on
feeding mechanism)

Batch fermenters
Fed-batch (semi-batch) fermenters
Continuous stirred tank fermenters
Batch Reactor

All the reactants are fed into the reactor. The inlet
and outlet are subsequently closed. The contents are
allowed to react. Fully mixed conditions prevail in
the reactor, i.e. the concentration at any position in
the reactor is same; but the concentration changes
with time.
Its disadvantage is that the operating cost is high.
Application of batch reactor

Small scale operations

For testing new processes at R & D stage
For making some of the expensive products
For making various types of products on shift basis
with ease and flexibility
For processes that are difficult to be translated into
continuous operations
Continuous Reactors

The contents are thoroughly mixed with a stirrer,

good mixing conditions can be achieved with good
maintenance of uniform temperature. (For cultivation
of cells it is generally referred to as chemostats in
biochemical terminology.)
The typical disadvantage is that the conversion per
unit reactor volume is the lowest, which results in
higher reactor volumes for the desired yield.
 Fed-batch/Semi-batch Reactors

This is intermediate to batch operation and

continuous operation.
It offers good control over the reaction speed.
Control of reaction temperature & pressure is
possible.
Unwanted side reactions can be avoided or restricted.
Most of the gas-liquid reactions can be carried out.