H1: Introduction
What is biochemical engineering
-
- Application of (chemical) engineering principles to biological systems & biotechnology sector
o Quantitative approach in which fundamental results from biosciences is combined
with core disciplines from engineering sciences best design of bioprocesses
o Study of engineering principles applied to processes involving cell / enzyme catalysts
Biochemical engineers
- How much can we produce?
- What is the bioreactor size for this production? How can we scale-up/down?
- How much will it cost? How will we separate and purify the products of interest?
Biochemicals – Why do we care?
- Prepare for a different world
- Petroleum only as raw material for a few platform chemicals (mostly aromatics) & where
even natural gasses will run scarce
- Use of calorific value of oil & gas for heating & cooling / for producing electricity will need to
be sharply reduced / banned
- Transportation sector will have to find solutions where gasoline is substituted by other
means of vehicle propulsion
, -
Importance of bioprocesses
-
-
o Biochemical engineering produces lots of energy (more than chemical) reactor
needs to be cooled
,Steps in the development of bioprocesses
-
-
o Batch: no inlet / outlet
o Semi-batch: eg addition of air
o Continuous: inlet & outlet & open
, Fermentation technology
General
- Process of growing cells
- Here, “fermentation” is not fermentation
- 5 main products
o Cells (eg bakers’ yeast)
o Enzymes & proteins
o Primary metabolites (eg ethanol)
o Secondary metabolites (eg antibiotics)
- Primary vs secondary metabolites
o Death: cells kill themselves with their own products
Stirred tank
- Mixing and bubble dispersion are achieved by mechanical
agitation
- Baffles to avoid vortexing
- Used for free and immobilized enzyme reactions, and for
culture of suspended and immobilized cells
- High levels of shear (impeller) can also damage sensitive
cells, particularly in plant and animal cell cultures
- Mechanically agitated reactors are impractical at volumes >
500 m ³ (too high power requirements )
o Agitate by bubbling (mechanically is better but this is
less expensive)
- Cooling coils
Bubble column
- Aeration & mixing achieved by gas sparging
- Applied industrially for production of bakers’ yeast, beer,
vinegar, treatment of wastewater
- Foaming can be problem requiring mechanical dispersal /
addition of antifoam to medium
What is biochemical engineering
-
- Application of (chemical) engineering principles to biological systems & biotechnology sector
o Quantitative approach in which fundamental results from biosciences is combined
with core disciplines from engineering sciences best design of bioprocesses
o Study of engineering principles applied to processes involving cell / enzyme catalysts
Biochemical engineers
- How much can we produce?
- What is the bioreactor size for this production? How can we scale-up/down?
- How much will it cost? How will we separate and purify the products of interest?
Biochemicals – Why do we care?
- Prepare for a different world
- Petroleum only as raw material for a few platform chemicals (mostly aromatics) & where
even natural gasses will run scarce
- Use of calorific value of oil & gas for heating & cooling / for producing electricity will need to
be sharply reduced / banned
- Transportation sector will have to find solutions where gasoline is substituted by other
means of vehicle propulsion
, -
Importance of bioprocesses
-
-
o Biochemical engineering produces lots of energy (more than chemical) reactor
needs to be cooled
,Steps in the development of bioprocesses
-
-
o Batch: no inlet / outlet
o Semi-batch: eg addition of air
o Continuous: inlet & outlet & open
, Fermentation technology
General
- Process of growing cells
- Here, “fermentation” is not fermentation
- 5 main products
o Cells (eg bakers’ yeast)
o Enzymes & proteins
o Primary metabolites (eg ethanol)
o Secondary metabolites (eg antibiotics)
- Primary vs secondary metabolites
o Death: cells kill themselves with their own products
Stirred tank
- Mixing and bubble dispersion are achieved by mechanical
agitation
- Baffles to avoid vortexing
- Used for free and immobilized enzyme reactions, and for
culture of suspended and immobilized cells
- High levels of shear (impeller) can also damage sensitive
cells, particularly in plant and animal cell cultures
- Mechanically agitated reactors are impractical at volumes >
500 m ³ (too high power requirements )
o Agitate by bubbling (mechanically is better but this is
less expensive)
- Cooling coils
Bubble column
- Aeration & mixing achieved by gas sparging
- Applied industrially for production of bakers’ yeast, beer,
vinegar, treatment of wastewater
- Foaming can be problem requiring mechanical dispersal /
addition of antifoam to medium
