Optimizing the production of bacterial cellulose in surface culture: A novel aerosol bioreactor working on a fed batch principle (Part 3)

Parts 1 and 2 have shown that the rate of production of bacterial cellulose stagnates because of the limitation of substrate supply and a wall effect, which hinders the removal of the product from the active cell zone. This paper demonstrates, how both of these problems can be eliminated in a novel bioreactor, where the substrates (mainly glucose and oxygen) are both fed directly to the surface of the product cellulose. This involves the generation of an aerosol spray of glucose and its even distribution to the living bacteria on the medium-air interface. The apparatus was built and operated up to eight weeks with a constant rate of cellulose production. The aerosol system provides the basis for an economic production of bacterial cellulose in surface culture.