Zymotis, a large scale solid state fermenter design and evaluation

Abstract

A novel design of a large scale solid state fermenter, designated asZymotis—the condensed term based on Greek word “Zymothiras,” which means the fermenter, offers efficient control of various fermentation parameters such as temperature, moisture, and aeration of the fermenting moist solids. A large quantity of metabolic heat can be easily removed by the novel cooling system employed. The unit can be operated at different capacities simply by adding or removing the compartments. Its evaluation at different capacities for cellulase production byTrichoderma harzianum gave similar performance as in the parallel fermentation under optimized parameters in laboratory scale column fermenter of high efficiency. The design is entirely different from all the known fermenter designs and is of potential promise in facilitating scale up of solid state fermentation for leading to industrial exploitation and harvesting numerous socioeconomic advantages of the system.