title: A membrane stirrer for product recovery and substrate feeding.
abstract: During fermentation processes, in situ product recovery (ISPR) using submerged membranes allows a continuous operation mode with effective product removal. Continuous recovery reduces product inhibition and organisms in the reactor are not exposed to changing reaction conditions. For an effective in situ product removal, submerged membrane systems should have a sufficient large membrane area and an anti-fouling concept integrated in a compact device for the limited space in a lab-scale bioreactor. We present a new membrane stirrer with integrated filtration membranes on the impeller blades as well as an integrated gassing concept in an all-in-one device. The stirrer is fabricated by rapid prototyping and is equipped with a commercial micromesh membrane. Filtration performance is tested using a yeast cell suspension with different stirring speeds and aeration fluxes. We reduce membrane fouling by backflushing through the membrane with the product stream.
authors.affiliation: Chemical Process Engineering AVT.CVT, RWTH Aachen University, Turmstraße 46, 52064, Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany; DWI - Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials, RWTH Aachen University, Forckenbeckstraße 50, 52074, Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Femmer
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Carstensen
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wessling
mesh_terms: D019149:Bioreactors; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004867:Equipment Design; D005285:Fermentation; D005374:Filtration / Q000295:instrumentation; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D011312:Pressure; D015003:Yeasts
chemical_list: D008567:Membranes, Artificial
keywords: aeration; continuous fermentation; in situ product recovery; membrane stirrer; microfiltration; mixing