Development of a Continuous Taylor Vortex Fermentor-Extractor-Separator
Member: Iowa State University
Year launched: 2023
This project will provide a flexible, modular, and redeployable bioreactor design that integrates product extraction and separation into the bioreactor itself. Researchers will develop a novel continuous-flow bioreactor-extractor-separator based upon Taylor vortex flow for use in small-volume, re-deployable production plants. Taylor vortices produce rapid radial and azimuthal mixing with little axial mixing.
As a result, Taylor vortex reactors can produce a narrower distribution of microbe residence times in comparison to standard continuous flow reactors. The shear distribution in these devices is also more homogeneous than conventional reactor designs, such as stirred tanks.
Consequently, Taylor vortex reactors can reduce variability in microenvironment trajectories sampled by microbes, which in turn mitigates ‘genotypic drift.’ In addition, because the proposed bioreactor design uses a hollow rotating cylinder to produce the desired Taylor vortices, centrifugal product separation can be integrated into the same device, thereby dramatically reducing downstream separation costs.
This project focuses on two specific reactor configurations including (1) fermentation of Y. lipolytica with simultaneous product extraction (fatty alcohols) followed by centrifugal separation of the multiphase effluent and (2) sequential fermentation of S. cerevisiae and product extraction (triacetic acid lactone) in Taylor vortices followed by centrifugal separation.
Researchers hypothesize that growing these microbial hosts in a Taylor vortex reactor yields better robustness and genetic stability than conventional bioreactors, which also positively impacts production-scale titers, rates, and yields. The development of Taylor vortex fermentor-separators will benefit the BioMADE community by providing an efficient low-cost option for carrying out fermentation and product separation in small-volume and redeployable manufacturing operations.
Funding source: Schmidt Futures Bioreactor Innovation Project Call
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