Bioreactor Performance: Process Design Methods

Bioprocess design, as suggested in Fig. 2.14 (including especially calculation of the conversion for prediction of the mode of reactor operation that will lead to optimal production), represents the stage where kinetic and bioreactor data are integrated. In practical situations, the dominant problems are often maintenance of sterility, improvement in the strain of microorganism, and isolation of the product. All of these greatly affect economic considerations. Once in operation, a plant using a stirred vessel can usually be modified only with respect to the operating conditions: Changing to a different type of reactor is not an option. In the planning of a new operation, selection of both the optimal mode of operation and the optimal reactor type is a foremost consideration. Selection will be even more important in the future, when large volume/low priced processes become economically competitive (cf. Fig. 1.2).