Steady state analysis of the enhancement in ethanol productivity of a continuous fermentation process employing a protein-phospholipid complex as a protecting agent

Abstract

A continuous cascade fermentation process comprising eight tanks in series, employing a protein-phopholipid complex as a protective agent (PA) was performed for ethanol production from glucose. An increase of 58.4% in fermenter productivity was obtained due to the addition of PA. A kinetic model including product and substrate inhibition effects is proposed. Parameters appearing in the kinetic model were estimated by using the method of least squares. It is found that the product inhibition effect dominates over the substrate inhibition effect for the range of concentrations studied in our fermentation system. Upon addition of PA, both inhibitory effects are reduced to as little as about one quarter of that without PA. It was also found that the use of PA primarily protected the cells against ethanol inhibition rather than substrate inhibition. A steady state criterion is also discussed.