Precision Fermentation

Understanding Fermentation:

Fermentation is a process where living organisms act as catalysts, converting feed ingredients into desired products such as antibiotics, enzymes, hormones, and foods like yogurt and cheese. This process can be aerobic, requiring oxygen for growth and production, or anaerobic, where no oxygen is needed, making it generally easier to manage.

Fermentation involves several phases:

Growth Phase: Organisms reproduce, increasing their concentration in the broth.
Production Phase: Nutrient adjustments lead organisms to start producing the desired product.
Harvest Phase: Finally, the organisms die, allowing the product to be recovered downstream from the fermenter vessel.

The Critical Role of Mixing in Fermentation:

Effective mixing is crucial for successful fermentation, impacting multiple aspects of the process:

Bubble Breakup and Mass Transfer: The impeller's primary role is to break up air bubbles, increasing their surface area for better oxygen transfer into the broth. This is vital in aerobic fermentations where oxygen is a key ingredient for growth and product formation.
Nutrient and Chemical Distribution: Proper mixing ensures uniform distribution of nutrients and chemicals in the broth, minimizing concentration gradients that could harm the organisms, particularly when pH control agents like acids or bases are involved.
Heat Transfer Management: As organisms consume nutrients and oxygen, they generate heat. Effective mixing is essential for heat transfer, integrating seamlessly with the cooling system to maintain optimal growth conditions.
Shear Management: While impellers generate shear to reduce bubble size, it is important to select the appropriate impeller design to avoid damaging the organisms, ensuring process efficiency without compromising organism viability.

Scaling Up:

Key Considerations

As you scale up, several critical factors must be meticulously addressed:

Tank Size and Geometry: Designing the appropriate tank is crucial for optimizing mixing efficiency and heat transfer.
Impeller System Selection: The choice of impeller affects oxygen transfer rates and mixing uniformity, critical for organism health and productivity.
Power Requirements: Determining the correct power input is essential for achieving effective mixing and oxygen transfer at scale.

With decades of fermentation expertise, SPX FLOW offers a comprehensive suite of services to support your scale-up needs:

Lab-Scale Studies and Pilot Testing: Our process begins with detailed lab-scale studies and pilot testing to identify the optimal parameters for your specific process.
Advanced Simulation Tools: Utilizing advanced tools such as Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations and finite element analysis, we optimize mixing, heat transfer, and mechanical design for reliable and efficient scale-up.
Customized Impeller and Sparge Systems: We design impeller and sparge systems tailored to your specific oxygen transfer needs, ensuring your fermentation process performs at its best.