2.1 The Microbiological Laboratories Isolation of organisms for new products normally does not occur in laboratories associated with production cultures, however, production (mi￾crobiological) laboratories frequently do mutation and isolation work to produce strains with higher yields, to suppress a by-product, to reduce the formation of a surfactant, to change the physical properties of the broth to facilitate the product recovery

When designing a fermenter, one primary consideration is the removal of heat. There is a practical limit to the square feet of cooling surface that can be achieved from a tank jacket and the amount of coils that can be placed inside the tank. The three sources of heat to be removed are from the cooling of media after batch sterilization, from the exothermic fermentation process

Specific nutritional requirements of microorganisms used in industrial fermentation processes are as complex and varied as the microorganisms in question. Not only are the types of microorganisms diverse (bacteria, molds and yeast, normally), but the species and strains become very specific as to their requirements

A common problem for a biochemical engineer is to be handed a microorganism and be told he has six months to design a plant to produce the new fermentation product. Although this seems to be a formidable task, with the proper approach this task can be reduced to a manageable level. There are many ways to approach the problem of optimization and design of a fermentation process

The introduction of fluidfoil impellers, as shown in Fig. 9a through 9f, give a wide variety of mixing conditions suitable for high flow and low fluid shear rates. Fluidfoil impellers use the principles developed in airfoil work in wind tunnels for aircraft. Figure 10a shows what is desirable, which is no form separation of the fluid, and maximum lift and drag coefficients, which is what one is trying to achieve with the fluidfoil impellers. Figure 10b shows

The theoretical concepts underlying filtration can be applied towards practical solutions in the field. Comprehension of the basic principles is necessary to select the proper equipment for an application. Theory alone, however, can never be the basis for selection of a filter. Filtration belongs to the physical sciences, and thus conclusions must be based on experimental assay. It is, however, helpful in understanding why a slurry is more suitable for one design of filtration equipment than another

“Evaporation is the removal of solvent as a vapor from a solution or slurry. The vapor may or may not be recovered, depending on its value. The end product may be a solid, but the transfer of heat in the evaporator must be to a solution or a suspension of the solid in liquid if the apparatus is not to be classed as a dryer. Evaporators are similar to stills or re-boilers of distillation

Often in multiple-effect evaporators the concentration of the liquid being evaporated changes drastically from effect to effect, especially in the latter effects. In such cases, this phenomenon can be used to advantage by staging one or more of the latter effects. Staging is the operation of an effect by maintaining

Crystallization is one of the oldest methods known for recovering pure solids from a solution. The Chinese, for example, were using crystallization to recover common salt from water some 5000 years ago. The perfection and beauty of the crystal which fascinated the early tribes now leads to a product of high purity and attractive appearance

The drying operation is often the final step of a manufacturing process. Indirect drying will be discussed in this section; it is the process of removing liquid by conductive heat transfer. Sometimes drymg is apart ofthe manufacturing process itself, as in the case of seasoning oftimber or in paper making, but generally, the reasons for carrying out a drying operation are: