Types of Fermentor

Broadly the fermentors can be grouped under two classes:

 Submerged fermentors (suspended growth systems)

 Surface fermentors (supported growth systems)

Most of the industrial fermentors contain the elements of both. In submerged fermentation, the organisms
are immersed in and dispersed throughout their nutrient medium and their movement follows that of the
nutrient liquid. In the solid substrate fermentation (SSF), the organisms grow as a layer or a film on the
surface in contact with a nutrient medium. Practically, supported growth systems have a film of the
organisms on the surface of the container and suspended growth systems have organisms dispersed in the
nutrient media.

SUBMERGED FERMENTORS (SUSPENDED GROWTH SYSTEMS)

It is one of the simplest fermentor in the form of an open tank in which the organisms are dispersed into
nutrient liquid. These types of fermentors are successfully utilized by brewing industry for generations,
and in the anaerobic fermentation, a foam cover of carbon dioxide and yeast develops which effectively
prevents access of air to the process. Cooling coils can be fitted for control of temperature during
fermentation. Agitation can be carried out with a mechanical stirrer or by the use of gas bubbles
through the liquid. With aerobic processes, the sparging of air into the liquid provides oxygen for the
process as well as agitation. In anaerobic processes, gases released by the fermentation can provide
agitation, using a pump to re-circulate the gas through the sparger.

1. Mechanically stirred tank fermentor

Mechanically stirred tank fermentor is one of the most highly applicable fermentor in the modern
fermentation industry. The basic advantage of this fermentor is flexibility of design.

They are equipped with a mechanical agitator so as to maintain homogenization, to attain rapid
dispersion and mixing of injected materials (additives and medium), to enhance the heat transfer in
temperature control and mass transfer in dissolving O2. The stirred tank fermentors are the most
versatile fermentors and are used in a range of sizes from 1L laboratory unit to production scale vessels
of typically 100 ton capacity. The volume of vessel is about 30-50% larger than the culture volume,
leaving a headspace for foaming.

The agitator consists of one or more impellers, mounted on a shaft which enters the vessel through a
gland or a mechanical seal. The shaft is driven by a motor. With a very long shaft, one or more
bearings are used to reduce vibration. Such bearing must be very simple type and capable of repetitive
sterilization. The gland or seal through which the shaft enters vessel is a major contamination risk point
and must provide a tight closure between vessel and atmosphere.

In Mechanically stirred tank fermentor, the turbulence required for satisfactory mixing, heat and mass
transfer is obtained with the addition of four baffles, attached or close to vessel wall. The width of the
vessel is usually 10-12% of vessel diameter.

Non-sparged mechanically stirred agitated bioreactors can supply sufficient aeration for microbial
fermentations with liquid volumes upto 3 liters. However, stirring speeds of up to 600 rpm may be
required before the culture is not oxygen limited. In non-sparged reactors, oxygen is transferred from the
head space above the fermentor liquid. Agitation continuously breaks the liquid surface and increases the
surface area for oxygen transfer.

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Sparged mechanically stirred agitated bioreactors: For liquid volumes greater than 3L, air sparging is
required for oxygen transfer. The introduction of bubbles into the culture fluid by sparging, leads to a
dramatic increase in the oxygen transfer area.

Sparged fermentors required significantly lower agitation speeds for aeration efficiencies comparable to
those achieved in non-sparged fermentors.

Some other types of mechanically stirred tank fermentor are

 Drought tube reactor

 High power stirred tank reactor
 Stirred multistage fermentor
 Paddle wheel reactor
 Mechanically stirred loop fermentor

Limitations:

 Low volumetric productivity.

 Attrition problem.
 High power supply.
 The downtimes are quite large.
 Numbers of impellers are high because of wide diameter i.e. increase the risk of contamination.
 High shear forces may break down the cells.

Advantages:

 Simple in design and easier to operate.

 Excellent mixing and reasonably good mass transfer rates.
 The cost of operation is lower.
 The reactors can be used with a variety of microbial species.

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Common uses:

 Antibiotic production and in chemical industries.

2. Bubble driven bioreactors (Airlift fermentor and Bubble column fermentor)

Bubble driven bioreactors are commonly used in the culture of shear sensitive organisms such as molds
and plant cells. An air lift fermentor (ALF) differs from bubble column fermentor by the presence of a
draft tube which provides

 better mass and heat transfer efficiencies

 Provide uniform shear conditions.
 Reduce bubble coalescence. This primarily occurs due to circulatory effect that the draft tube
induces in the reactor. Circulation occurs in one direction and hence the bubbles also travel in one
direction.
 Equalize shear forces throughout the reactor. This is believed to be the major reason why ALF
bioreactors have higher productivities than STR.

ALF are however more expensive to construct than bubble column reactors. There are several designs for
ALF although the most commonly used design with a central draft tube.

In bubble column fermentor, the gas in traduced at the bottom through a single nozzle or perforated or
porous distributed plates. The gas bubbles rise through the liquid in the vessel and may be re-dispersed by
a succession of horizontal baffle plates sited at the intervals up the column. Temperature controls are
maintained by the temperature jacket or internal coils. In the anaerobic digestion, the gas evolved can be
re-circulated through the spargers to maintain homogeneity and enhance temperature control. Baffle
plates are not used.

Air lift fermentor (ALF) is generally classified as pneumatic fermentors without any mechanical
stirring arrangements for mixing. The turbulence caused by the fluid flow ensures adequate mixing of
liquid. The draft tube is provided in the central section of the reactor. The introduction of fluid
(air/liquid) causes upward motion and results in circulatory flow in the entire reactor. A large
headspace is provided above the top of the draft tube. In these fermenters, internal liquid circulation is
achieved by sparging only part of the vessel with gas. An ALF is divided into 3 sections: the air riser,
down-comer and disengagement zone. The sparged volume has a lower effective density than the
bubble free volume and the difference in the hydrostatic pressure between the two sections drive the
liquid circulation upward in the sparged section and after gas dis-entertainment, it moves downward in the
bubble free section.

Fig: Bubble column bioreactor & Airlift Bioreactor

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Use:

A common use of ALF is the growth of shear sensitive cells such as plant and animal cultures. Also, the
design has been used for the production of large amount of biomass as single cell protein (SCP).
Antibiotic production from fungal culture is also achieved by air lift fermentors.

Advantages:

 Energy consumption is low.

 Elimination of attrition effects.
 Operation maintenance is easier.
 Absence of rotating shaft eliminates the major contamination risk at the entry point.

Disadvantages over stirred tank reactors are:

 Excessive foaming.
 Cell damage.

SUPPORTED GROWTH (SURFACE CULTURE SYSTEMS)

This is a laboratory technique in which growing microbes are cultured on the surface layer of the nutrient
medium. Microbial films are developed on the surfaces of solid substrate in the complete absence or
presence of free water. The presence of some moisture (about 5%) is necessary for solid substrate
fermentation. This can be in the form of a fixed bed of stones, plastic pieces or ribbed plastic sheets,
through which the nutrient liquid is trickled to contact the microbial film on the packing surfaces. These
solid substrates are polymeric in nature, insoluble or sparingly soluble in water and contain concentrated
source of nutrients for the growth of microorganisms. SSF is used in the production of mushroom, soy
sauce, cheese and many other fermented products (enzymes and organic acids). For SSF, single pure
cultures or mixed cultures may be used. Pretreatment of the substrate raw materials sometimes are
necessary to facilitate the availability of nutrients.

SSF is normally carried out as a non-aseptic process which saves the cost of sterilization. The substrates
used in SSF have adequate space in between to allow good air circulation. This facilitates adequate
exchange of gases, besides promoting heat elimination. Forced air circulation may be done to maintain
optimal conditions in SSF.

Advantages

 SSF employs natural solids as the media.

 Low technology, low energy expenditure and requires less capital investment.
 No need for sterilization, less microbial contamination and easy downstream processing.
 Yield of the products is high.
 Bioreactor design, aeration process and effluent treatment are quite simple.

Disadvantages

 The microorganisms that can tolerate low moisture activity can be used.
 Precise monitoring (O2 and CO2 level, moisture content) is not possible.
 The organisms grow considerably slow.
 Heat production creates problem, and it is very difficult to regulate the growth environment.

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 1. Fluidized bed bioreactor
 Fluidized bed bioreactor are examples of reactors in which mixing is assisted by the action of a
pump.
 The biological film is developed or immbolized on the particles which are suspended in an
upward flow of liquid in which they are then free to circulate. Thus a fluidized bed has both
suspended and supported growth systems. The supports can be solids such as sand or glass
beads or plastics.
 A pump located at the base of the tank causes the immobilized cells to move with the fluid. The
pump pushes the fluid and the particles in a vertical direction. The upward forces of the pump are
balanced by the downward movement of the particles due to gravity. This results in good
circulation.
 A draft tube can be used to improve circulation and oxygen transfer. Both aerobic and anaerobic
FBB can be developed for use in Wastewater treatment.
 For aerobic processes, oxygen can be supplied by the pre-dissolution of high purity oxygen in
the feed stream to the process. This system is well suited to growth of animal cells on the smaller
scale and has large scale applications in effluent/decontamination treatment plants.
 Porous particles allow growth within the particle as well as on the surface and they have been
used successfully in the pilot scale production of citric acid by A. foetida. They are mostly used in
anaerobic process such as brewing.

Fig: Fluidized Bed Bioreactor

Advantages

 Lower attrition of solid particles.

 Good mixing.
 Volumetric productivity is higher.
 Higher mass transfer rate.
 Avoidance of blocking of the packing by the microbial growth.

2. Packed/Fixed bed bioreactor

Packed or fixed bed bioreactors are commonly used with the attached biofilms especially in wastewater
engineering. The used of packed bed reactors gained importance after the potential of whole cell
immobilization technique has been developed. The immobilized biocatalyst is packed in the column and

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fed with nutrients either from top or from bottom. Packed bed bioreactors often suffer from problems
caused by the poor mass transfer rates and clogging. Large plastic blocks are used for solid supports for
the cell. These blocks have a large surface area for cell immobilization and when packed in the reactor are
difficult to clog. As stirring is not used, capital and energy costs are saved.

Trickled bed reactors are a class of packed bed reactors in which the medium flows or trickles over the
solid particles. In these fermentors, the particles are not immersed in the liquid. They are widely used in
the aerobic treatment of sewage.