Scribd
Upload
13 views4 pages

Bioreactor

A bioreactor is a device that supports a biologically active environment, used for producing pharmaceuticals and food products, as well as treating wastewater. It operates through the continuous cultivation of microorganisms, with a focus on substrate consumption and microbial growth, governed by the Monod equation and mass balance equations. Applications include the production of genetically engineered products like anti-malarial drugs and synthetic cannabinoids.

Uploaded by

XheikhKaleem
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
13 views4 pages

Bioreactor

A bioreactor is a device that supports a biologically active environment, used for producing pharmaceuticals and food products, as well as treating wastewater. It operates through the continuous cultivation of microorganisms, with a focus on substrate consumption and microbial growth, governed by the Monod equation and mass balance equations. Applications include the production of genetically engineered products like anti-malarial drugs and synthetic cannabinoids.

Uploaded by

XheikhKaleem
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 4

CHE 361 model zoo exhibit D: bioreactor

a bioreactor refers to any manufactured device or system that supports a


biologically active environment.

Wikipedia

bioreactors are used to produce pharmaceuticals and food products (e.g., fermentation) and treat
waste water.

+ →

substrate: energy, carbon, and/or nutrient source

let b(t) [ ] be the

let x(t) [ ] be the

bugs consume food =⇒

continuous cultivation of micro-organisms

f(t) [L/min] flow rate


inputs:
bf (t) [g/L] bugs

• f (t) [L/min]: incoming volumetric flow


xf (t) [g/L]food

rate of broth feed

• bf (t) [g/L]: concentration of micro-


organisms in the feed

f(t) [L/min] • xf (t) [g/L]: concentration of substrate in


b(t) [g/L] the feed
x(t) [g/L]
outputs: concentration of micro-organisms and
substrate in the bioreactor, b(t) and x(t)

(assume a valuable, desired product is produced


bioreactor
by the microbes; though, we do not explicitly
V [L] model its concentration here.)

growth model for micro-organisms

Monod equation describes auto-catalytic growth of micro-organisms and its dependence on sub-
strate availability:
growth rate of micro-organisms [=] =

µ [1/s]

x [g/L]

consumption of substrate by the micro-organisms

yield:

Yb/x :=

ie. to

maintenance:

M :=

ie. to

=⇒ rate of consumption of substrate [=] =

in writing a mass balance on the bioreactor, assume:

• well-mixed

• constant volume V [L] of broth maintained in the bioreactor

• constant temperature (temperature affects growth)

2
mass balance on microbes

mass balance on substrate

consequently, two , , ODEs govern b(t) and x(t):

a special quantity is the dilution rate:

• a high dilution rate =⇒

• the inverse of the dilution rate is:

note: this is one instance of a simplified model of a bioreactor. more complicated microbe growth and
substrate consumption models may be necessary. we can also track the concentration of different
categories of nutrients x and microbes b in the bioreactor.

3
application. a bioreactor can be used to grow yeast that are genetically engineered to produce a
desired product, eg. an anti-malarial drug, hoppy beer without hops, or synthetic cannabinoids.

• Malaria Drug Released to the Public

• Synthetic Biology for producing pharmaceuticals, hoppy beer without hops, and cannabinoids

• Eric Sawyer. “Artemisinin: A Synthetic Biology Success Story” Nature Blog. (2011)

• Ro, D.K., Paradise, E.M., Ouellet, M., Fisher, K.J., Newman, K.L., Ndungu, J.M., Ho, K.A., Eachus,
R.A., Ham, T.S., Kirby, J. and Chang, M.C. “Production of the antimalarial drug precursor artemisinic
acid in engineered yeast.” Nature. (2006)

• Luo X, Reiter MA, d’Espaux L, Wong J, Denby CM, Lechner A, Zhang Y, Grzybowski AT, Harth S,
Lin W, Lee H. Complete biosynthesis of cannabinoids and their unnatural analogues in yeast.
Nature. 2019

You might also like