Continuous alcoholic fermentation process: model considering loss of cell viability

The concept of loss of cell viability was introduced into a model previously developed for a continuous alcoholic fermentation process in a tower reactor with recycling of flocculating yeasts. The two models take into account substrate limitation and inhibition phenomena linked to ethanol and biomass. The kinetic parameters were estimated from steady-state data of several sugar concentrations in feeding stream and constant dilution rate, recycle ratio and temperature. Some parameters of the modified model (maximum specific rates) were significantly different from those estimated with the original model while others (inhibition parameters) remained practically unchanged. Both models provided similar predictions and were equally suitable for modelling of the process.     

Continuous ethanol fermentation in a tower reactor with flocculating yeast recycle: scale-up effects on process performance, kinetic parameters and model predictions

An unsegregated and unstructured model developed for a small-scale process of ethanol production in a tower reactor with cell recycle was applied to describe the experimental data obtained in a large-scale process. The model was developed considering the following points: reactor hydrodynamic behavior analogous to that of ideal CSTR, substrate limitation, inhibition phenomena linked both to ethanol and to biomass, absence of fermentation in the settler, and no loss of cell viability. The scale-up criterion consisted in maintaining an identical relation settler volume/fermentor volume on the two scales. All large-scale experiments were carried out using a flocculating yeast strain IR-2, isolated from fermented food, and identified as Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Sugarcane juice was used as the substrate source with sugar concentrations of 150?g/l. Different values of dilution rate and recycle ratio were employed (D?=?0.11–0.33?h^?1, α?=?5.4–18.0) and the temperature was of 32?°C. The kinetic parameters were similar on both scales and the model predictions agreed well with the large-scale experimental data.     

Mathematical model for aerobic culture of a recombinant yeast

A mathematical model was formulated to simulate cell growth, plasmid loss and recombinant protein production during the aerobic culture of a recombinant yeast S. cerevisiae. Model development was based on three simplified metabolic events in the yeast: glucose fermentation, glucose oxidation and ethanol oxidation. Cell growth was expressed as a composite of these metabolic events. Their contributions to the total specific growth rate depended on the activities of the pacemaker enzyme pools of the individual pathways. The pacemaker enzyme pools were regulated by the specific glucose uptake rate. The effect of substrate concentrations on the specific growth rate was described by a modified Monod equation. It was assumed that recombinant protein formation is only associated with oxidative pathways. Plasmid loss kinetics was formulated based on segregational instability during cell division by assuming constant probability of plasmid loss. Experiments on batch fermentation of recombinant S. cerevisiae C468/pGAC9 (ATCC 20690), which expresses Aspergillus awamori glucoamylase gene and secretes glucoamylase into the extracellular medium, were carried out in an airlift bioreactor in order to evaluate the proposed model. The model successfully predicted the dynamics of cell growth, glucose consumption, ethanol metabolism, glucoamylase production and plasmid instability. Excellent agreement between model simulations and our experimental data was achieved. Using published experimental data, model agreement was also found for other recombinant yeast strains. In general, the proposed model appears to be useful for the design, scale-up, control and optimization of recombinant yeast bioprocesses.     

Modeling alcoholic fermentation of glucose/xylose mixtures by ethanologenic Escherichia coli as a function of pH

In order to understand the effect of pH on growth and ethanol production in ethanologenic Escherichia coli, we investigated the kinetic behavior of ethanologenic E. coli during alcoholic fermentation of glucose or xylose in a controlled pH environment and the fermentation of glucose, xylose, or their mixtures without pH control. Based on the Monod equation, an unstructured and unsegregated kinetic model was proposed as a function of the pH of the fermentation medium. The pH effects on cell growth, sugar consumption, and ethanol production were taken into account in the proposed model. Both cell growth and ethanol production were found to be significantly influenced by the pH of the fermentation medium. The optimal pH range for ethanol production by ethanologenic E. coli on either glucose or xylose was 6.0–6.5. The highest value of the maximum specific growth rate (μ _m) was obtained at pH 7.0. In the kinetic model of the fermentations of the sugar mixture, two inhibition terms related to glucose concentrations were included in both the cell growth and ethanol production equations because of the strong inhibitions of glucose and glucose metabolites on xylose metabolism. A good fit was found between model predictions and experimental data for both single-sugar and mixed-sugar fermentations without pH control within the experimental domain.     

法夫酵母分批发酵虾青素动力学研究

通过三联30L全自动发酵罐对虾青素产生菌法夫酵母的分批发酵动力学进行了研究,结果表明,法夫酵母的生长与限制性基质葡萄糖浓度之间符合Logistic方程,建立了细胞生长、产物合成和基质消耗随时间变化的数学模型。应用MATLAB软件对发酵动力学模型进行最优参数估计和非线性拟和,获得最大比生长速率（umax）和产物得率（Yp/x）分别为0.1829/h、0.1524g/g,虾青素分批发酵中细胞生长与产物合成属于偶联型,模型模拟计算结果和实验值能较好地吻合,动力学研究结果表明该模型能较好地反映细胞的生长、底物消耗和产物合成过程机制。     

Production of bio-ethanol from soybean molasses by Saccharomyces cerevisiae at laboratory, pilot and industrial scales

The aim of this work was to develop an economical bioprocess to produce the bio-ethanol from soybean molasses at laboratory, pilot and industrial scales. A strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (LPB-SC) was selected and fermentation conditions were defined at the laboratory scale, which included the medium with soluble solids concentration of 30% (w/v), without pH adjustment or supplementation with the mineral sources. The kinetic parameters - ethanol productivity of 8.08g/Lh, Y(P/S) 45.4%, Y(X/S) 0.815%, m 0.27h(-1) and mu(X) 0.0189h(-1) - were determined in a bench scale bioreactor. Ethanol production yields after the scale-up were satisfactory, with small decreases from 169.8L at the laboratory scale to 163.6 and 162.7L of absolute ethanol per ton of dry molasses, obtained at pilot and industrial scales, respectively.     

Modeling and advanced control of recombinant Zymomonas mobilis fed-batch fermentation

This work presents the development of an unstructured kinetic model incorporating the differing degrees of product, substrate, and pH inhibition on the kinetic rates of ethanol fermentation by recombinant Zymomonas mobilis CP4:pZB5 for growth on two substrates. Product inhibition was observed to start affecting the specific growth rate at an ethanol concentration of 20 g/L and the specific productivity at about 35-40 g/L. Specific growth rate was also shown to be more sensitive to inhibition by lowered pH as well. A model for the inhibition of two competing substrates' cellular uptake via membrane transport is proposed. Inhibition functions and model parameters were determined by fitting experimental data to the model. The model was utilized in a nonlinear model predictive control (NMPC) algorithm to control the product concentration during fed-batch fermentation to offset the inhibitory effects of product inhibition. Using the optimal feeding policy determined online, the volumetric productivity of ethanol was improved 16.6% relative to the equivalent batch operation when the final ethanol concentration was reached.     

The effect of temperature,pH, and initial glucose concentration on the kinetics of ethanol production by Zymomonas mobilis in batch fermentation

Summary Zymomonas mobilis, strain ATCC 10988, was used to evaluate the effects of pH (5.0 to 8.0), temperature (30°C to 40°C), and initial glucose concentration (75 g/l to 150 g/l) on the kinetics of ethanol production from glucose using batch fermentation. Specific ethanol production rate was maximum and nearly constant over a pH range of 6.0 to 7.5. End-of-batch ethanol yield and specific growth rate were insensitive to pH in the range of 5.0 to 7.5. End-of-batch ethanol yield was maximum and nearly constant between 30°C and 37°C but decreased by 24% between 37°C and 40°C. All other kinetic parameters are greatest at 34°C. End-of-batch ethanol yield is maximum at an initial glucose concentration of 100 g/l. Specific growth rate reaches a maximum at 75 g/l, but specific ethanol production rate decreases throughout the range. The optimum initial glucose concentration of 100 g/l gives the highest ethanol yield at a specific ethanol production rate less than 10% below the maximum observed.     

Sugar fermentation by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Fusarium oxysporum</Emphasis> to produce ethanol

As a first step in the research on ethanol production from lignocellulose residues, sugar fermentation by Fusarium oxysporum in oxygen-limited conditions is studied in this work. As a substrate, solutions of arabinose, glucose, xylose and glucose/xylose mixtures are employed. The main kinetic and yield parameters of the process are determined according to a time-dependent model. The microorganism growth is characterized by the maximum specific growth rate and biomass productivity, the substrate consumption is studied through the specific consumption rate and biomass yield, and the product formation via the specific production rate and product yields. In conclusion, F. oxysporum can convert glucose and xylose into ethanol with product yields of 0.38 and 0.25, respectively; when using a glucose/xylose mixture as carbon source, the sugars are utilized sequentially and a maximum value of 0.28 g/g ethanol yield is determined from a 50% glucose/50% xylose mixture. Although fermentation performance by F.␣oxysporum is somewhat lower than that of other fermenting microorganisms, its ability for simultaneous lignocellulose-residue saccharification and fermentation is considered as a potential advantage.     

Indirect method for quantification of cellular biomass in a solidscontaining medium used as pre-culture for cellulase production

A process that combines the advantages of solid state fermentation (SSF) and submerged fermentation (SmF) could increase the efficiency of cellulase production required in the cellulosic ethanol industry. Due to the difficulty of measuring cellular biomass in the presence of solids, we developed a novel methodology for indirect quantification of biomass during production of the preculture for a combined fermentation process. Cultivation of Aspergillus niger was initiated as SSF using sugar cane bagasse as a solid substrate. Experiments were conducted in the absence of bagasse to determine growth kinetic parameters. Changes in glucose and biomass concentrations were measured. and the data were used for simulation employing a simple unstructured model. Parameters were estimated by applying a combination of Simulated Annealing (SA) and Levenberg-Marquardt (LM) algorithms to search for minimization of the error between model estimates and experimental data. Growth kinetics followed the Contois model, with a maximum specific growth rate (μ_max) of 0.042/h, a yield coefficient for biomass formation (Y_x/s) of 0.30 g/g and a death constant (k_D) of 0.005/h.These parameters were used to simulate cellular growth in the solids-containing medium. The proposed model accurately described the experimental data and succeeded in simulating the cell concentration profile. The selected pre-culture conditions (24 h as SSF followed by 48 h as SmF) were applied for cellulase production using the combined fermentation process and resulted in an endoglucanase activity (1,052 ± 34 U/L) greater than that obtained using the conventional SmF procedure (824 ± 44 U/L). Besides the standardization of pre-culture conditions, this methodology could be very useful in systems where direct measurement of cell mass is not possible.     

Ethanol Inhibition Kinetics of Kluyveromyces marxianus Grown on Jerusalem Artichoke Juice

The kinetics of ethanol inhibition on cell growth and ethanol production by Kluyveromyces marxianus UCD (FST) 55-82 were studied during batch growth. The liquid medium contained 10% (wt/vol) inulin-type sugars derived from an extract of Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus) tubers, supplemented with small amounts of Tween 80, oleic acid, and corn steep liquor. Initial ethanol concentrations ranging from 0 to 80 g/liter in the liquid medium were used to study the inhibitory effect of ethanol on the following parameters: maximum specific growth rate (μ_max), cell and ethanol yields, and sugar utilization. It was found that as the initial ethanol concentration increased from 0 to 80 g/liter, and maximum specific growth rate of K. marxianus cells decreased from 0.42 to 0.09 h⁻¹, whereas the ethanol and cell yields and sugar utilization remained almost constant. A simple kinetic model was used to correlate the μ_max results and the rates of cell and ethanol production, and the appropriate constants were evaluated.     

Scaling-up of a batch whey fermentation by Kluyveromyces fragilis

Summary A whey fermentation by Kluyveromyces fragilis was scaled-up to a 1000-dm³ stirred fermentor, by varying the stirrer speed, the air-flow rate and the initial concentration of lactose. Its evolution was simulated by applying the same unstructured model (consisting of a microbial specific growth rate of pseudo-first order with respect to the COD concentration and constant biomass yield per unit COD removed) set up in previous experiments using 8- to 80-dm³ fermentors. Despite the great scale-up ratios, very different operating conditions, and geometric dissimilarity, a series of empirical regressions previously developed allowed approximate, but acceptable prediction of the stoichiometric and kinetic coefficients of the above mathematical model, thus confirming the capability of this model to provide a reliable basis for further scale-up of this fermentation process to a production scale.     

Fermentation kinetics of Zymomonas mobilis near zero growth rate

The fermentation kinetics Zymomonas mobilis were studied near zero growth rate in fed-batch cultures and continuous cultures with complete cell recycle. The results show the ethanol enhances that specific substrate conversion rate under these conditions. The maximum achievable ethanol concentration in continuous cultures with cell recycle (66 g/L) was significantly lower than in fed-batch cultures (100 g/L). The results indicate that growth-rate-independent metabolism is not instantaneous and can lag behind steadily increasing ethanol concentrations in fed-batch fermentations. A model is proposed to account for this slow adaptation.     

Effect of different cellulase dosages on cell viability and ethanol production by Kluyveromyces marxianus in SSF processes

This study was aimed to study the effect of commercial cellulases (Celluclast 1.5 LFG) on Kluyveromyces marxianus CECT 10875 growth and ethanol production in SSF processes. Preliminary tests carried out in glucose (50 g/L) fermentation medium showed that high enzyme amounts (2.5-3.5 FPU/mL) could cause a negative effect on K. marxianus growth rate and viable cells number. However, the maximum ethanol production was not affected and about 86% of the theoretical (22 g/L) was reached in all cases independently of the enzyme dosage. In SSF experiments, cell viability was always affected by enzyme loading. Nevertheless, slight differences observed on cell viability during glucose fermentation processes with the detected concentrations of the additives did not justify the negative effect observed in SSF experiments.     

Ethanol Production and Maximum Cell Growth Are Highly Correlated with Membrane Lipid Composition during Fermentation as Determined by Lipidomic Analysis of 22 Saccharomyces cerevisiae Strains

Optimizing ethanol yield during fermentation is important for efficient production of fuel alcohol, as well as wine and other alcoholic beverages. However, increasing ethanol concentrations during fermentation can create problems that result in arrested or sluggish sugar-to-ethanol conversion. The fundamental cellular basis for these problem fermentations, however, is not well understood. Small-scale fermentations were performed in a synthetic grape must using 22 industrial Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains (primarily wine strains) with various degrees of ethanol tolerance to assess the correlation between lipid composition and fermentation kinetic parameters. Lipids were extracted at several fermentation time points representing different growth phases of the yeast to quantitatively analyze phospholipids and ergosterol utilizing atmospheric pressure ionization-mass spectrometry methods. Lipid profiling of individual fermentations indicated that yeast lipid class profiles do not shift dramatically in composition over the course of fermentation. Multivariate statistical analysis of the data was performed using partial least-squares linear regression modeling to correlate lipid composition data with fermentation kinetic data. The results indicate a strong correlation (R² = 0.91) between the overall lipid composition and the final ethanol concentration (wt/wt), an indicator of strain ethanol tolerance. One potential component of ethanol tolerance, the maximum yeast cell concentration, was also found to be a strong function of lipid composition (R² = 0.97). Specifically, strains unable to complete fermentation were associated with high phosphatidylinositol levels early in fermentation. Yeast strains that achieved the highest cell densities and ethanol concentrations were positively correlated with phosphatidylcholine species similar to those known to decrease the perturbing effects of ethanol in model membrane systems.     

A parametric study on ethanol production from xylose byPichia stipitis

Characteristics of ethanol production by a xylose-fermenting yeast,Pichia stipitis Y-7124, were studied. The sugar consumption rate and specific growth rate were higher in the glucose-containing medium than in the xylose-containing medium. Specific activities of xylose reductase and xylitol dehydrogenase were higher in the medium with xylose than glucose, suggesting their induction by xylose. Maximum specific growth rate and ethanol yield were achieved at 30 g xylose/L concentration without formation of by-products such as xylitol and acetic acid whereas a maximum ethanol concentration was obtained at 130 g/L xylose. Adding a respiratory inhibitor, rotenone, increased a maximum ethanol concentration by 10% compared with the control experiment. In order to evaluate the pattern of ethanol inhibition on specific growth rate, a kinetic model based on Luong’s equations was applied. The relationship between ethanol concentration and specific growth rate was hyperbolic for glucose and parabolic for xylose. A maximum ethanol concentration at which cells did not grow was 33.6 g/L for glucose and 44.7 g/L for xylose.     

金龟子绿僵菌IMI330189液体发酵动力学研究

研究了金龟子绿僵菌IMI330189的液体发酵动力学。利用Sigmoid函数构建了该菌株液体发酵过程中的菌体生长和底物消耗的动力学模型,并运用Origin7.5软件拟合求解出各模型参数。结果表明,模型能够较好地拟合绿僵菌IMI330189液体发酵过程,其比生长速率在发酵第22.8h达到最大值,为0.084h-1;总糖比消耗速率在第9.6h达到最大值,为0.246h-1;总氮比消耗速率在第10.3h达到最大值,为0.007h-1;菌体对总糖的得率系数在39.8h达到最高,为0.861g/g。模型拟合和实验数据具有良好的适应性,基本反映了绿僵菌IMI330189液体发酵过程的动力学特征,为其液体发酵工艺的优化和发展奠定了基础。     

Ethanol fermentation in an immobilized cell reactor using Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Fermentation of sugar by Saccharomyces cerevisiae, for production of ethanol in an immobilized cell reactor (ICR) was successfully carried out to improve the performance of the fermentation process. The fermentation set-up was comprised of a column packed with beads of immobilized cells. The immobilization of S. cerevisiae was simply performed by the enriched cells cultured media harvested at exponential growth phase. The fixed cell loaded ICR was carried out at initial stage of operation and the cell was entrapped by calcium alginate. The production of ethanol was steady after 24 h of operation. The concentration of ethanol was affected by the media flow rates and residence time distribution from 2 to 7 h. In addition, batch fermentation was carried out with 50 g/l glucose concentration. Subsequently, the ethanol productions and the reactor productivities of batch fermentation and immobilized cells were compared. In batch fermentation, sugar consumption and ethanol production obtained were 99.6% and 12.5% v/v after 27 h while in the ICR, 88.2% and 16.7% v/v were obtained with 6 h retention time. Nearly 5% ethanol production was achieved with high glucose concentration (150 g/l) at 6 h retention time. A yield of 38% was obtained with 150 g/l glucose. The yield was improved approximately 27% on ICR and a 24 h fermentation time was reduced to 7 h. The cell growth rate was based on the Monod rate equation. The kinetic constants (K(s) and mu(m)) of batch fermentation were 2.3 g/l and 0.35 g/lh, respectively. The maximum yield of biomass on substrate (Y(X-S)) and the maximum yield of product on substrate (Y(P-S)) in batch fermentations were 50.8% and 31.2% respectively. Productivity of the ICR were 1.3, 2.3, and 2.8 g/lh for 25, 35, 50 g/l of glucose concentration, respectively. The productivity of ethanol in batch fermentation with 50 g/l glucose was calculated as 0.29 g/lh. Maximum production of ethanol in ICR when compared to batch reactor has shown to increase approximately 10-fold. The performance of the two reactors was compared and a respective rate model was proposed. The present research has shown that high sugar concentration (150 g/l) in the ICR column was successfully converted to ethanol. The achieved results in ICR with high substrate concentration are promising for scale up operation. The proposed model can be used to design a lager scale ICR column for production of high ethanol concentration.     

Dynamic modeling of syngas fermentation in a continuous stirred-tank reactor: Multi-response parameter estimation and process optimization

Syngas fermentation is one of the bets for the future sustainable biobased economies due to its potential as an intermediate step in the conversion of waste carbon to ethanol fuel and other chemicals. Integrated with gasification and suitable downstream processing, it may constitute an efficient and competitive route for the valorization of various waste materials, especially if systems engineering principles are employed targeting process optimization. In this study, a dynamic multi-response model is presented for syngas fermentation with acetogenic bacteria in a continuous stirred-tank reactor, accounting for gas–liquid mass transfer, substrate (CO, H₂) uptake, biomass growth and death, acetic acid reassimilation, and product selectivity. The unknown parameters were estimated from literature data using the maximum likelihood principle with a multi-response nonlinear modeling framework and metaheuristic optimization, and model adequacy was verified with statistical analysis via generation of confidence intervals as well as parameter significance tests. The model was then used to study the effects of process conditions (gas composition, dilution rate, gas flow rates, and cell recycle) as well as the sensitivity of kinetic parameters, and multiobjective genetic algorithm was used to maximize ethanol productivity and CO conversion. It was observed that these two objectives were clearly conflicting when CO-rich gas was used, but increasing the content of H₂ favored higher productivities while maintaining 100% CO conversion. The maximum productivity predicted with full conversion was 2 g·L⁻¹·hr⁻¹ with a feed gas composition of 54% CO and 46% H₂ and a dilution rate of 0.06 hr⁻¹ with roughly 90% of cell recycle.     

光镊拉曼光谱分析酿酒活性干酵母的活化与生长

应用光镊拉曼光谱新技术(LTRS)对酿酒活性干酵母复水活化与生长进行动态观察, 探索从分子光谱角度窥视胞内糖类、核酸、蛋白等生物大分子的变化过程, 及葡萄糖消耗和乙醇生成的动态过程。结果显示, 酿酒活性干酵母复水活化后, 第6小时和9小时, 即酵母对数生长中期及乙醇产生前期, 是调控酵母细胞生理变化的2个重要的时间点。核酸类物质在细胞活化后迅速增加, RNA在第6小时达到最大值; 而蛋白质和脂类物质从第6小时开始快速增加, 在第9小时达 到最大值, 而后呈下降趋势; 胞内乙醇则是在9 h开始出现, 在9