PHA Fermentation Broth Stabilization for Delayed Recovery
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) recovery and purification processes from fermentation broths are inefficient, costly, and prone to quality degradation due to metabolic processes in microorganisms under unfavorable conditions, especially at high cell concentrations, requiring lengthy and complex initial treatment steps.
Innovation Solution
A process involving heat treatment of the fermentation broth with specific pH, temperature, and time in the presence of an acid to stabilize the broth, followed by separation, extraction, purification, and drying, which inhibits cellular activity and allows for efficient recovery at higher cell concentrations without solvent.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the fermentation broth is treated immediately after fermentation, then the polyhydroxyalkanoate yield is maximized, but the process requires complex and lengthy initial treatment steps
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by performing heat treatment and pH adjustment immediately after fermentation before the cellular metabolic activity can degrade the polyhydroxyalkanoate. This stabilization step prevents self-consumption by the microorganisms while preparing the broth for subsequent separation and extraction, thereby maintaining high yield without requiring complex prolonged treatment procedures.
2Device complexity
If the fermentation broth is stored for later treatment, then the initial treatment steps can be simplified, but metabolic degradation of polyhydroxyalkanoate occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary anti-action by immediately counteracting the harmful metabolic degradation through heat treatment and pH adjustment right after fermentation. This stabilization action prevents the microorganisms from breaking down the polyhydroxyalkanoate during storage, allowing simplified treatment steps later without losing product quality or quantity.
3Productivity
If cellular activity is maintained during treatment, then the extraction efficiency is improved, but the polyhydroxyalkanoate is degraded by metabolic processes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by stabilizing the fermentation broth through heat treatment and pH adjustment immediately after fermentation, before extraction. This preliminary stabilization inhibits cellular metabolic activity that would otherwise degrade the polyhydroxyalkanoate, while still allowing efficient extraction to proceed in subsequent steps.
4Productivity
If the treatment is performed at high cell concentrations, then the process efficiency is improved, but the cellular activity causes quality degradation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary anti-action by immediately inhibiting cellular metabolic activity through heat treatment and pH adjustment at high cell concentrations right after fermentation. This prevents the microorganisms from breaking down the polyhydroxyalkanoate, thereby maintaining high process efficiency while preserving product quality even when treating high cell concentration broths.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The process effectively inhibits metabolic degradation, enables efficient extraction and purification of PHA at higher cell concentrations, simplifies operations, and maintains product quality, even with deferred treatment times, enhancing industrial feasibility.
Implementation Method 1
subjecting the fermentation broth as such to heat treatment in presence of at least one acid
Implementation Method 2
subjecting the fermentation broth as such to heat treatment in presence of at least one acid; characterized in that said step (a) is carried out at specific values of pH, temperature and time
Implementation Method 3
subjecting the fermentation broth obtained in step (a), directly or after storage, to separation obtaining an aqueous suspension of cellular biomass comprising polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) and an aqueous phase comprising fermentation residues
Implementation Method 4
subjecting the aqueous suspension of cellular biomass comprising polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) obtained in step (b) to extraction, purification and drying
Data Source
AI summary
A process for recovering and purifying polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) from a fermentation broth deriving from the fermentation of microorganisms includes the following steps:(a) subjecting the fermentation broth as such to heat treatment in the presence of at least one acid;(b) subjecting the fermentation broth obtained in step (a), directly or after storage, to separation obtaining an aqueous suspension of cellular biomass having polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) and an aqueous phase having fermentation residues;(c) subjecting the aqueous suspension of cellular biomass having polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) obtained in step (b) to extraction, purification and drying; wherein step (a) is carried out at a pH between 4 and 6, at a temperature between 50° C. and 70° C., for a time between 5 minutes and 30 minutes.The aforementioned polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) can be advantageously used in various applications, in particular in the medical, pharmacological, cosmetic, agricultural, engineering and food packaging fields.