The history of bioprocess development and today’s practical applications. Pro- and eukaryote cell technology and metabolism with emphasis on industrially used production systems. Enzyme technology. Design and sterilisation of bioreactors. Oxygen transfer. Cultivation techniques: batch, fed batch and continuous cultivation. Kinetics and calculation of productivity and yield including practical exercises. Theology and scale-up. Protein purification: principles, small and large scale techniques. Industrial processing: recombinant protein production, large scale enzyme and antibiotics production and waste water treatment. Simulation exercises: from a model of a commercial process based on the unit operations for cultivation and purification of protein.
Laboratory exercise: Cultivation of cells of Escherichia coli producing the enzyme ß-galactosidase in 1 m3 scale and purification of this enzyme. The following unit operations are part of the purification: cell harvest through centrifugation, high pressure homogenisation, two-phase extraction, phase separation through centrifugation and ultra filtration.
After passing the course, the student should be able to:
- describe different common production organisms and compare their properties in order to receive certain products
- describe the main features of E.coli, yeast and animal cells’ growth, substrate intake and primary metabolism
- describe normally used media (including provided substrates such as pH-regulation components, nourishment supply) in bioprocesses, explain the cause of their structure and motivate why different choices (quantity, type) influence the process results.
- apply mathematical simulations and kinetic concepts for calculation of cell growth, nourishment turnover, byproducts and product culture in processes based on batch, continual and fed-batch techniques including recirculation systems.
- explain how byproduct culture (especially overflow metabolism) can be controlled in bioprocesses.
- describe bioreactors’ structure and what equipment is used
- describe which parameters are usually measured and regulated in the bioreactor and which principles are used. Be able to speculate about how variables are changed with time in a given bioprocess.
- describe how mass transport of gas happens in a bioreactor and know how the efficiency in oxygen transference and blending is measured (measurement and mixing time). Explain how the different values can affect the bioprocess.
- describe how the relationship between force and tension changes the viscosity in different bioprocesses and explain how this can be controlled based on conventional bio-process parameters
- describe principles of scaling up bio-processes and suggest different methods for given processes
- describe how the product quality can be controlled in several given process examples (protein, baker’s yeast).
- recognize several common unit operations in purification processes and which parameters can be used to control exchange and purity
- suggest purification methods on the basis of cells and process character
- cultivate micro organisms in bioreactors controlled by traditional process regulation methods and purify a chosen product from that system