The Mathematical Biology Seminar series presents Chris Stowers on “The Challenges of Industrial Fermentation – From Primary to Secondary Metabolites” on Friday, Aug. 28, at 2 p.m. in Morton 320.
Chris Stowers
Stowers is Fermentation Technology Leader, Bioengineering and Bioprocess R&D, at Dow AgroSciences in Indianapolis.
Abstract: There are many challenges involved in the development of industrial fermentation platforms including reliable process scale-up, economics, and byproduct minimization. The type and magnitude of these challenges vary depending on the product and business case. This presentation will describe several of the challenges faced for two different fermentation products, Spinosad and Propionic Acid, and demonstrate how an integrated, multidisciplinary approach was used to overcome these challenges. Specifically, the development of predictive scaled-down fermentation platforms for Spinosad will be described. Spinosad is produced using filamentous actinomycete bacteria in a complex media resulting in a viscous, shear-thinning broth making mass transfer alignment across scales particularly challenging. The key factors impacting scale-up predictability were identified and processes with improved alignment were designed. Unlike Spinosad, which is a high-value specialty product, propionic acid is a commodity chemical with much lower margins making minimizing the manufacturing cost critically important. Propionic acid manufacturing cost was reduced by improving fermentation productivity three-fold to exceed 2 g/L/h and byproduct levels were substantially reduced. To further lower cost, a novel enzymatically treated corn mash (ECM) medium was developed that reduced production costs to less than 1 USD/kg of PA and made the fermentation process economically competitive with incumbent petrochemical processes for propionic acid production.
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