Scale up of xylitol production from sugarcane bagasse hemicellulosic hydrolysate by Candida guilliermondii FTI 20037

In this study, volumetric oxygen mass transfer coefficient (kappa(L)a) was selected as a criterion for facilitating the scale up of xylitol production by Candida guilliermondii at the bench and pilot-scale level. A kappa(L)a value of 16 (h-1) was applied in reactors with volumetric capacity of 2.4 L, 18 L and 125 L Fermentation was successfully scaled-up from the bench to pilot-scale level with all experiments demonstrating a minimum of 60% xylose to xylitol conversion efficiency. Under all evaluated conditions glycerol and ethanol were also produced as by-products of xylose metabolism. Only minor differences were observed in the fermentation profile when reactor volumes ranging from 2.4 L to 125 L were used for experimentation purposes, reaching, at pilot scale, yield and volumetric productivity of 0.55 g g(-1) and 0.31 g L-1 h-1, respectively, with maximum specific growth rate of 0.26 h(-1). This demonstrates and reinforces the feasibility of using kLa as scale up criterion. The use of this parameter allowed precise reproduction of results obtained at bench bioreactor level to a larger scale; this is extremely crucial and important information considering that the aim of the proposed biotechnological process is to reach the level required for the industrial viability. (C) 2016 The Korean Society of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.