Biochemical Reaction Engineering
Biokemisk reaktionsteknik

KETN30F, 7.5 credits

Valid from: Autumn 2018
Decided by: Margareta Sandahl
Date of establishment: 2018-09-06

General Information

Division: Chemical Engineering
Course type: Course given jointly for second and third cycle
The course is also given at second-cycle level with course code: KETN30
Teaching language: English

Aim

Development of new biotechnical processes requires analysis of the microbial metabolism as well as the bioreactor. The aim of this course is to provide the student with understanding and skills to enable them to analyse a biotechnical process in a quantitative fashion. This will provide the basis for the design and scale-up of processes in biotechnology.

Goals

Knowledge and Understanding

For a passing grade the doctoral student must

• be able to describe the principles behind global metabolic networks analysis, and describe the application of metabolic network analysis in the design of genetically modified production organisms
• be able to describe the interaction between physical transport phenomena and the microbial metabolism in a bioreactor
• be able to identify critical factors in the scale-up of processes in biotechnology, and qualitatively compare different process options

Competences and Skills

For a passing grade the doctoral student must

• be able to quantitatively analyse experimental results on the macro-level, e.g. by making carbon- and degree of reduction balances
• be able to set up stoichiometric network models for metabolic networks
• be able to model microbial kinetics
• be able to execute reaction engineering calculations for the design of bioreactors, including size, stirrer effect, mass transfer capacity, and cooling requirements
• be able to make a reasonable choice of reactor, substrate, and production organism for a given biotechnical process

Judgement and Approach

For a passing grade the doctoral student must be able to assess the usefulness of quantitative models of biological processes within the research topic of the PhD student

Course Contents

The course treats processes in biotechnology in a quantitative fashion on both the cellular and the reactor level. The following topics are covered: Metabolic reactions, stoichiometry, the C-mol concept, degree of reduction, thermodynamics in microbial systems, modelling of metabolic networks, reaction kinetics, design of biotechnical processes, mass transfer, and scale-up of biotechnical processes.

Course Literature

Villadsen, J., Nielsen, J. & Lidén, G.: Bioreaction Engineering Principles. Springer, 2011. ISBN 9781441996879.

Instruction Details

Types of instruction: Lectures, seminars, exercises, study visit. This is also an advanced course within the engineering programmes of the Faculty of Engineering (B and K)

Examination Details

Examination formats: Written exam, written assignments
Grading scale: Failed, pass
Examiner:

Admission Details

Admission requirements: Accepted to graduate studies within chemistry, chemical engineering, biotechnology or closely related fields
Assumed prior knowledge: Basic biochemistry (e.g. KBKA/KBK011), Reaction engineering (e.g. KETF25 or KETF40/KTE170) and linear algebra (e.g. FMAA20)

Further Information

Contact: Gunnar Liden, Chemical engineering gunnar.liden@chemeng.lth.se

Course Occasion Information

Contact and Other Information

Course coordinators:
Web page: https://liveatlund.lu.se