Solid-State Fermentation Bioreactors: Fundamentals of Design and Operation

This concise professional reference provides a fundamental framework for the design and operation of solid-state fermentation bioreactors, enabling researchers currently working at laboratory scale to scale-up their processes. After surveying the main bioreactor types currently used in solid-state fermentation, it focuses on the mathematical modeling of bioreactors, which is covered in three parts. Firstly, the book shows how to plan a research program in order to characterize the growth kinetics in a manner appropriate for incorporation into bioreactor models. Secondly, it addresses the heat and mass transfer phenomena that occur in solid-state fermentation bioreactors and the mathematical expressions that are used to describe them. Thirdly it demonstrates, through a number of case studies, how mathematical models can be used in the optimization of bioreactor performance. The final part of the book addresses several issues closely related with bioreactor operation, namely process monitoring equipment, process control strategies and the selection of an appropriate air preparation system.