Clean Technology approach for use of Micro-bioreactor in Bioprocess Engineering

摘要

Low-cost polymer polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) was used to fabricate a 1.5ml microbioreactor for the production of microbial surfactant (detergent). The choice of PTFE was attributed to the high permeability to gases, low cost and the ease with which it can be sterilized under steam or chemicals. A model microbe Pseudomonas aeruginosa DS10-129 was used in this study. The progress of fermentation/bioprocess was monitored by comparing the growth of the organism in a microbioreactor, conventional bioreactor and shake flask methods. Under the microbioreactor conditions used Pseudomonas aeruginosa DS10-129 produced 106g/ml of effective biosurfactants within 16h of incubation that reduced the surface tension of the culture medium to 27.9mN/m and emulsified kerosene by 71.30% that showed promising applications in enhanced oil recovery. A green pigment, pyocyanin was produced during the exponential phase, while biosurfactant production was observed during stationary phase of growth. The pigment showed antibiotic effect on various bacteria like Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Pseudomonas teessidea and Pseudomonas clemancea. The results obtained shows that the growth pattern and the production of biosurfactant and pyocyanin in the microbioreactor are comparable to those obtained by using the shake flask and the conventional fermentation (batch fermenter) methods. Hence the low-cost microbioreactor can perform the same functionality as the conventional bioreactors.