BIOPROCESSING ENGINEERING (Term Paper Sample)

BIOPROCESSING ENGINEERING by Course Professor School Location Date Bioprocessing Engineering 1 Introduction Bioprocessing engineering may be defined as the process of utilizing engineering instruments in undertaking the biological or chemical process in the production processes such as in the food or oil industry where biofuels are produced. In advanced bioprocessing engineering process, industries have employed the use of on-line measuring equipment such as bioreactors. These are automated instruments sensitive to various bioprocess parameters such as temperature. On-line measuring equipment is designed in the sense that they can sense or detect when the parameters veer of their optimal bioprocessing range. On the other hand, we have off-line bioprocessing equipment that relies on human intervention for the regulation of bioprocessing parameters. These equipment require lots of monitoring from the bioprocess engineers to regulate the bioprocessing parameters accurately otherwise inadequate monitoring would lead to failure in biological processes. (P. Agrawal and H. C. Lim .pp. 69 – 77) Due the increasing cost of raw materials and capital investments, failures in biological processes could have catastrophic economic consequences. Therefore, there is a strong economic incentive for proper control of continuous bioreactors. 2 Parameters in Bioprocessing Parameters in bioprocessing may be categorized into physical, chemical and biological parameters. This paper will evaluate these parameters with a focus on to which category the parameter is classified. A thematic approach will be utilized to undertake an in-depth evaluation of the instrument utilized to measure the parameter. 1 Temperature Temperature regulation in bioprocesses is quite important as it affects volumetric mass transfer through processes such as in agitating and mixing. Poor regulation of temperature in bioprocessing may also affect gas solubility mixing such as oxygen or carbon dioxide. For instance in aerobic bioprocesses, oxygen demand is quite high for the production of energy and glucose. On the other hand, anaerobic bioprocesses do not require oxygen for the production of energy. However, aerobic bioprocesses are known to produce greater amounts of energy and glucose as compared to anaerobic bioprocesses. Temperature plays a great role in the regulation of oxygen whether in aerobic or anaerobic bioprocesses. 1 Equipment for measuring Temperature Depending on the various bioprocesses, temperature may be measured using the pressure bulb thermometers. Pressure bulb thermometers may be classified based on the medium used for sensing the differentiation in temperature. For instance, there are those that utilize liquid while others utilize mercury. Worth noting is that the medium utilized are sensitive at various temperatures, for instance, liquid filled temperature sensors are not sensitive to extreme positive temperature as compared to the mercury filled temperature sensors. However, the utilization of either liquid or mercury filled temperature system is dependent on the bioprocess activity. 2 Pressure Bulb Thermometer Measuring Principle The underlying principle of the pressure bulb thermometer is that when molecules of a fluid are heated they tend to expand. In this scenario, the molecules will expand and become active, this will induce collision of the molecules and hence exert pressure on the walls of the. This, therefore, allows for measuring of temperature which is informed by the degree of heat. 3 Advantage and Disadvantage of Pressure Bulb Thermometer These kinds of thermometer devices are designed in a manner that pressure differential within the bioreactors will still render the pressure bulb reactors useful. This is a great advantage for the pressure bulb thermometer because a change in pressure for some devices may cause damage to a piece of equipment. A disadvantage of such kind of pressure thermometer is the response to the temperature condition in the sense that utilization of either liquid or mercury filled temperature system cannot be utilized research environment. This is because liquid thermometer systems are known to be slow in response to the temperature while the mercury filled thermometer systems are known to be fast in response. One may therefore not obtain similar results if undertaking a study where the temperature is the variable. 2 pH pH is quite critical for any bioprocess reaction as it defines the acidity or alkalinity of the bioprocess. For instance, in bioprocesses such as fermentation, bacteria are essential in the process. However, the level of acidity or alkalinity may affect the bacteria thus slowing down the fermentation process. (P. Agrawal and H. C. Lim .pp. 69 – 77) The pH has a marked influence on the rate of microbial growth. Characteristically there is a pH value at which the growth rate is optimal, and on each side of this optimum, the growth rate is lower. 4 Equipment for measuring pH There are three categories through which pH may be controlled; these may either be on-line monitoring, in situ measuring or off-line monitoring. The most suitable and accurate method is the off-line method whereby a sample is taken from the process. This type of method may utilize the use of a pH electrode. 5 How a pH Electrode works How good or poor a pH electrode work relies on the conductivity of the sample taken from the process. If a sample does not have adequate conductivity ions, the pH measuring process will definitely get an erroneous pH. The pH electrode contains terminals that are used to determine the difference in electrode potential based on a reference electrode potential as well as its sensitivity to hydrogen ions as contained in the pH electrode. 6 Advantage and Disadvantage of an Off-line pH Ele...