Design and Development of a Novel Tray Bioreactor for Optimization of Bacterial Nano-cellulose Production

Abstract

In this research, a 30-liter bench-scale tray bioreactor was designed and built to increase bacterial cellulose (BC) production with a static culture system. Then, the effect of various parameters including the ratio of the volume to the surface of the culture medium in the tray, the aeration method, and inlet airflow on the increase of bacterial cellulose production in HS and molasses-gluten liquid culture media were investigated. Under the optimal conditions of volume-to-surface ratio of 1.16 cm and aeration rate of 1.5 vvm in the liquid molasses-gluten culture medium 8.23 g/L and 74.07 g of BC on each tray and the total amount obtained. In the following, to increase the scale and develop a system with easier use, an 80-liter incubator equipped with an aeration system was used along with trays with larger dimensions to provide the possibility of checking the ratio of volume to surface up to 3.8 cm. The results obtained can be used in higher scales as well. The amount of bacterial cellulose production in different volume-to-surface ratios was investigated. The results showed that the highest production value was obtained in the volume-to-surface ratio of 2.5, which is 8.63 g/L.