Formation of metabolites during biodegradation of linear alkylbenzene sulfonate in an upflow anaerobic sludge bed reactor under thermophilic conditions.

Biodegradation of linear alkylbenzene sulfonate (LAS) was shown in an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor under thermophilic conditions. The reactor was inoculated with granular biomass and fed with a synthetic medium and 3 micromol/L of a mixture of LAS with alkylchain length of 10 to 13 carbon atoms. The reactor was operated with a hydraulic retention time of 12 h with effluent recirculation in an effluent to influent ratio of 5 to 1. A sterile reactor operated in parallel revealed that sorption to sludge particles initially accounted for a major LAS removal. After 8 days of reactor operation, the removal of LAS in the reactor inoculated with active granular biomass exceeded the removal in the sterile reactor inoculated with sterile granular biomass. The effect of sorption ceased after 185 to 555 h depending on the LAS homologs. 40% of the LAS was biodegraded, and the removal rate was 0.5 x 10(-6) mol/h/mL granular biomass. Acidified effluent from the reactor was subjected to dichloromethane extraction followed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Benzenesulfonic acid and benzaldehyde were detected in the reactor effluent from the reactor with active granular biomass but not in the sterile and unamended reactor effluent. Benzenesulfonic acid and benzaldehyde are the first identified degradation products in the anaerobic degradation of LAS.     

Light energy supply in plate-type and light diffusing optical fiber bioreactors

The light distribution profiles of plate-type photobioreactors were investigated. Light reaching individual channels of a plate module is dependent on the orientation of the module to the sun, the position of the channel within a plate and the position of the plate. The highest incident radiation was measured at the south oriented side of the first channel of the front plate. The light intensity decreased from top to ground channels. Different types of light diffusing optical fibers (LDOF) were characterized with respect to their applicability in photobioreactor systems.     

Granulation in thermophilic upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactors

The state of the art for thermophilic UASB reactors is discussed focusing on the start-up of UASB reactors, the influence of the waste water composition and temperature on the development and maintenance of thermophilic granules, and the microbial composition and structure of thermophilic granules.     

Production of vitamin B12 in an upflow anaerobic filter continuous reactor using Acetobacterium sp.

The accumulation of biofilm by Acetobacterium sp. during continuous culture in an upflow anaerobic filter (UAF) growing on methanol-formate was the result of space velocity and inlet concentrations of substrate and Co⁺². To achieve good development of biofilm, a space velocity of 0.38 h^–1, inlet substrate concentrations of 125 mM of both methanol and formate, and Co⁺² at 0.16 mM were required. Cell productivities in the effluent of the UAF-reactor were about 6-fold higher than in chemostat cultures (0.20 g l^–1 h^–1 for UAF and 0.035 g l^–1 h^–1 for chemostat) (previous studies), and the maximum vitamin B₁₂ specific concentration was 5.1 mg g cell^–1.     

Impact of nozzle operation on mass transfer in jet aerated loop reactors. Characterization and comparison to an aerated stirred tank reactor

The impact of mass transfer on productivity can become a crucial aspect in the fermentative production of bulk chemicals. For highly aerobic bioprocesses the oxygen transfer rate (OTR) and productivity are coupled. The achievable space time yields can often be correlated to the mass transfer performance of the respective bioreactor. The oxygen mass transfer capability of a jet aerated loop reactor is discussed in terms of the volumetric oxygen mass transfer coefficient k_La [h^?1] and the energetic oxygen transfer efficiency E [kgO₂ kW^?1 h^?1]. The jet aerated loop reactor (JLR) is compared to the frequently deployed aerated stirred tank reactor. In jet aerated reactors high local power densities in the mixing zone allow higher mass transfer rates, compared to aerated stirred tank reactors. When both reactors are operated at identical volumetric power input and aeration rates, local k_La values up to 1.5 times higher are possible with the JLR. High dispersion efficiencies in the JLR can be maintained even if the nozzle is supplied with pressurized gas. For increased oxygen demands (above 120 mmol L^?1 h^?1) improved energetic oxygen transfer efficiencies of up to 100 % were found for a JLR compared to an aerated stirred tank reactor operating with Rushton turbines.     

1,3‐Regiospecific ethanolysis of soybean oil catalyzed by crosslinked porcine pancreas lipase aggregates

The preparation of crosslinked aggregates of pancreatic porcine lipase (PPL‐CLEA) was systematically studied, evaluating the influence of three precipitants and two crosslinking agents, as well as the use of soy protein as an alternative feeder protein on the catalytic properties and stability of the immobilized PPL. Standard CLEAs showed a global yield (CLEA’ observed activity/offered total activity) of less than 4%, whereas with the addition of soy protein (PPL:soy protein mass ratio of 1:3) the global yield was approximately fivefold higher. The CLEA of PPL prepared with soy protein as feeder (PPL:soy protein mass ratio of 1:3) and glutaraldehyde as crosslinking reagent (10 μmol of aldehyde groups/mg of total protein) was more active mainly because of the reduced enzyme leaching in the washing step. This CLEA, named PPL‐SOY‐CLEA, had an immobilization yield around 60% and an expressed activity around 40%. In the ethanolysis of soybean oil, the PPL‐SOY‐CLEA yielded maximum fatty acid ethyl ester (FAEE) concentration around 12‐fold higher than that achieved using soluble PPL (34 h reaction at 30°C, 300 rpm stirring, soybean oil/ethanol molar ratio of 1:5) with an enzyme load around 2‐fold lower (very likely due to free enzyme inactivation). The operational stability of the PPL‐SOY‐CLEA in the ethanolysis of soybean oil in a vortex flow type reactor showed that FAEE yield was higher than 50% during ten reaction cycles of 24 h. This reactor configuration may be an attractive alternative to the conventional stirred reactors for biotransformations in industrial plants using carrier‐free biocatalysts. © 2018 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 34:910–920, 2018     

Enzymatic synthesis of chiral amino‐alcohols by coupling transketolase and transaminase‐catalyzed reactions in a cascading continuous‐flow microreactor system

Rapid biocatalytic process development and intensification continues to be challenging with currently available methods. Chiral amino‐alcohols are of particular interest as they represent key industrial synthons for the production of complex molecules and optically pure pharmaceuticals. (2S,3R)‐2‐amino‐1,3,4‐butanetriol (ABT), a building block for the synthesis of protease inhibitors and detoxifying agents, can be synthesized from simple, non‐chiral starting materials, by coupling a transketolase‐ and a transaminase‐catalyzed reaction. However, until today, full conversion has not been shown and, typically, long reaction times are reported, making process modifications and improvement challenging. In this contribution, we present a novel microreactor‐based approach based on free enzymes, and we report for the first time full conversion of ABT in a coupled enzyme cascade for both batch and continuous‐flow systems. Using the compartmentalization of the reactions afforded by the microreactor cascade, we overcame inhibitory effects, increased the activity per unit volume, and optimized individual reaction conditions. The transketolase‐catalyzed reaction was completed in under 10 min with a volumetric activity of 3.25 U ml^?1. Following optimization of the transaminase‐catalyzed reaction, a volumetric activity of 10.8 U ml^?1 was attained which led to full conversion of the coupled reaction in 2 hr. The presented approach illustrates how continuous‐flow microreactors can be applied for the design and optimization of biocatalytic processes.

     

Immobilized biocatalytic process development and potential application in membrane separation: a review

Biocatalytic membrane reactors have been widely used in different industries including food, fine chemicals, biological, biomedical, pharmaceuticals, environmental treatment and so on. This article gives an overview of the different immobilized enzymatic processes and their advantages over the conventional chemical catalysts. The application of a membrane bioreactor (MBR) reduces the energy consumption, and system size, in line with process intensification. The performances of MBR are considerably influenced by substrate concentration, immobilized matrix material, types of immobilization and the type of reactor. Advantages of a membrane associated bioreactor over a free-enzyme biochemical reaction, and a packed bed reactor are, large surface area of immobilization matrix, reuse of enzymes, better product recovery along with heterogeneous reactions, and continuous operation of the reactor. The present research work highlights immobilization techniques, reactor setup, enzyme stability under immobilized conditions, the hydrodynamics of MBR, and its application, particularly, in the field of sugar, starch, drinks, milk, pharmaceutical industries and energy generation.     

Pentachlorophenol Dechlorination in Fluidized-Bed Reactors under Methanogenic Conditions

The reductive dechlorination of chlorophenols was studied in three fluidized-bed reactors (FBRs) with respect to enrichment, pathways, complete dechlorination, and overall performance. The methanogenic consortia, developed by previous researchers in our laboratory, have been further enriched by reducing the ratio of substrate to pentachlorophenol (PCP) and increasing the PCP loading. The performance of the consortia was improved, and complete dechlorination at high PCP loading rates was observed, reaching a PCP loading of 1227 µmol/L d with 99% chlorophenol removal. The dechlorination rates in the reactors for chlorophenol (CP) congeners were obtained and were used to evaluate the performance of the three consortia and to quantitatively estimate the fates of these chlorophenols in the reactors. The consortium with the best performance was further investigated in bottle tests by treatment with heat and metabolic inhibitors to examine chlorophenol degradation and to characterize the CP degraders. The degradation of all monochlorophenols was completely inhibited after heat treatment, but the degradation of all other tested chlorophenols was hardly affected by heat treatment, indicating that spore-forming bacteria likely were involved in dechlorination. Addition of sulfate negatively affected CP degradation, but addition of molybdate reduced the effect of sulfate. Tests with 2-bromoethanesulfonic acid and vancomycin indicated that bacteria were responsible for chlorophenol degradation in the consortium.     

Mathematical model for a three-phase fluidized bed biofilm reactor in wastewater treatment

A mathematical model for a three phase fluidized bed bioreactor (TFBBR) was proposed to describe oxygen utilization rate, biomass concentration and the removal efficiency of Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) in wastewater treatment. The model consisted of the biofilm model to describe the oxygen uptake rate and the hydraulic model to describe flow characteristics to cause the oxygen distribution in the reactor. The biofilm model represented the oxygen uptake rate by individual bioparticle and the hydrodynamics of fluids presented an axial dispersion flow with back mixing in the liquid phase and a plug flow in the gas phase. The difference of settling velocity along the column height due to the distributions of size and number of bioparticle was considered. The proposed model was able to predict the biomass concentration and the dissolved oxygen concentration along the column height. The removal efficiency of COD was calculated based on the oxygen consumption amounts that were obtained from the dissolved oxygen concentration. The predicted oxygen concentration by the proposed model agreed reasonably well with experimental measurement in a TFBBR. The effects of various operating parameters on the oxygen concentration were simulated based on the proposed model. The media size and media density affected the performance of a TFBBR. The dissolved oxygen concentration was significantly affected by the superficial liquid velocity but the removal efficiency of COD was significantly affected by the superficial gas velocity. An erratum to this article can be found online at .