72 Fermentation and Biochemical Engineering Handbook The equipment needed in warehousing are fork lift trucks, floor- washing machines, etc. Special materials must be on hand to clean up spills quickly, according to federal regulations. Good housekeeping and pest control are essential 2.4 Media Preparation or Batching Area For good housekeeping, all equipment should be on or above the floor and no pits should be used. On the other hand, grated trenches make it easy to clean the floors and minimize the number of floor drains The number, shape and volume of batching tanks that different companies use show personal preference and are not very important. Usually two or three different sized tanks are used smaller batching tanks are for inoculum tanks and the larger tanks for feed and fermenter mediapreparation The type of agitation varies widely. Batching tanks, 10,000 gallons and smaller, could be specified as 304 stainless steel, dished or flat bottom and heads, HD ratio about 0. 7 to keep a working platform low, a slow speed (60 to 90 rpm)top-entering agitator with airfoil type impellers, horsepower approximately 1. 25 per 1000 gallons. The tanks need to be equipped with submerged (bottom)nozzles which are supplied with both steam and air. Hot and cold water are usually piped to the top. The hatch, with a removable grate of v/ 2 " S/S rod on 6"x6"centers, should be as large as a 100 lb bag of raw materials. a temperature recorder is the minimum instrumentation. The cyclone, with a rotary air lock valve to permit material additions from the bulk storage silos, is normally located above the tank(s). For tanks larger thar 10,000 gallons, the bottom head should be dished, the H/D ratio made l to 2, and airfoil type agitators used The size and number of batching tanks depend upon whether the plant uses continuous sterilizers or batch sterilization. The difference is that in the latter case, the tanks can be large(50 to 80%of the size of the fermenter), and usually all the materials are mixed together. For continuous sterilizers, there is usually a minimum of four smaller tanks so that proteins, carbohydrates and salts can be batched and sterilized separately. In this case, the tanks are consider ably smaller than the fermenter The media preparation area is also where hydrolysates of proteins, and starches, as well as special processing of steep liquor, molasses and other crude materials takes place. Very strict accuracy of weights, volumes, pH adjustments and processing instructions are the first step to reproducible fermentation results. A well-run batching area depends upon purchasing a uniform quality of raw materials, adequate equipment, detailed batching72 Fermentation and Biochemical Engineering Hun dbook The equipment needed in warehousing are fork lift trucks, floor￾washing machines, etc. Special materials must be on hand to clean up spills quickly, according to federal regulations. Good housekeeping and pest control are essential. 2.4 Media Preparation or Batching Area For good housekeeping, all equipment should be on or above the floor and no pits should be used. On the other hand, grated trenches make it easy to clean the floors, and minimize the number of floor drains. The number, shape and volume of batching tanks that different companies use show personal preference and are not very important. Usually two or three different sized tanks are used; smaller batching tanks are for inoculumtanks and the largertanks for feed and fermenter media preparation. The type of agitation varies widely. Batching tanks, 10,000 gallons and smaller, could be specified as 304 stainless steel, dished or flat bottom and heads, WD ratio about 0.7 to keep a working platform low, a slow speed (60 to 90 rpm) top-entering agitator with airfoil type impellers, horsepower approximately 1.25 per 1000 gallons. The tanks need to be equipped with submerged (bottom) nozzles which are supplied with both steam and air. Hot and cold water are usually piped to the top. The hatch, with a removable grate of %" S/S rod on 6" x 6" centers, should be as large as a 100 lb. bag of raw materials. A temperature recorder is the minimum instrumentation. The cyclone, with a rotary air lock valve to permit material additions from the bulk storage silos, is normally located above the tank(s). For tanks larger than 10,000 gallons, the bottom head should be dished, the WD ratio made 1 to 2, and airfoil type agitators used. The size and number of batching tanks depend upon whether the plant uses continuous sterilizers or batch sterilization. The difference is that in the latter case, the tanks can be large (50 to 80% of the size ofthe fermenter), and usually all the materials are mixed together. For continuous sterilizers, there is usually a minimum of four smaller tanks so that proteins, carbohydrates and salts can be batched and sterilized separately. In this case, the tanks are considerably smaller than the fermenter. The media preparation area is also where hydrolysates of proteins, and starches, as well as special processing of steep liquor, molasses and other crude materials takes place. Very strict accuracy of weights, volumes, pH adjustments and processing instructions are the first step to reproducible fermentation results. A well-run batching area depends upon purchasing a uniform quality of raw materials, adequate equipment, detailed batching