Introduction to

Biochemical Engineering

CHE 142-1

Biochemical engineering
v Biochemical

engineering

is concerned with conducting biological

processes on an industrial scale.
q links biological sciences with chemical
engineering.
q

v The

role of biochemical engineers has

become more important in recent years due to
the dramatic developments of biotechnology.
CHE 142 Biochemical Engineering

Biotechnology
Chemical techniques that use living organisms, or
substances from those organisms, to make or modify
a product, including techniques used for the
improvement of the characteristics of economically
important plants and animals and for the development
of microorganisms to act on the environment.
-Congress of the United States, 1984-

CHE 142 Biochemical Engineering

Biotechnology
Biotechnology

Traditional
Use of living organisms
and selection of features
from those organisms

Modern
Uses genetically
engineered organisms,
plants and cells

CHE 142 Biochemical Engineering

Biotechnology
In recent years, the term biotechnology is being
used to refer to novel techniques such as
recombinant DNA, and
cell fusion

CHE 142 Biochemical Engineering

Biotechnology
Recombinant DNA technology
allows the direct manipulation of genetic material of individual
cells, which may be used to develop microorganisms that produce
new products as well as useful organisms.
Genetic engineering the laboratory technology for the genetic
manipulation within living cells
A major objective of this technique is to splice a foreign gene for a
desired product into circular forms of DNA (plasmids), and then to
insert them into an organism, so that the foreign gene can be
expressed to produce the product from the organism.

CHE 142 Biochemical Engineering

Biotechnology
Cell fusion
a process to form a single hybrid cell with nuclei and
cytoplasm from two different types of cells in order to
combine the desirable characteristics of the two

CHE 142 Biochemical Engineering

Applications of biotechnology

CHE 142 Biochemical Engineering

Applications of biotechnology
Human Insulin
The use of
recombinant DNA
technology to
modify Escherichia
coli bacteria to
produce human
insulin

CHE 142 Biochemical Engineering

Applications of biotechnology
Animal cloning
Livestock cloning
improves animal
breeding programs
allowing farmers and
ranchers to produce
healthier offspring, and
therefore produce
healthier, safer and
higher quality foods more
consistently.
CHE 142 Biochemical Engineering

Applications of biotechnology

CHE 142 Biochemical Engineering

Applications of biotechnology
Food Production
Modern food
biotechnology
increases the speed
and precision with
which scientists can
improve food traits
and production
practices.

Source: Food insight

CHE 142 Biochemical Engineering

Applications of biotechnology
Environmental biotech
Environmental
biotechnology utilizes
functions of
microorganisms for
conserving the
environment and
would be an important
key technology for
sustainable
development.
Source:http://www.nubio.nagoya-u.ac.jp
CHE 142 Biochemical Engineering

Applications of biotechnology
Biosensors
A biological entity (i.e.
bacteria) is used to
monitor levels of
certain chemicals.

CHE 142 Biochemical Engineering

Biochemical engineering

Recombinant
DNA or cell fusion

Initiated and
developed
by pure
scientist

New breed of
cells
Produced
in minute
quantities

CHE 142 Biochemical Engineering

Biochemical engineering
Laboratory-scale

Industrial scale

Industrial bioreactor
CHE 142 Biochemical Engineering

Biochemical engineering
v Biochemical
q

engineering

One of the major areas in biotechnology important to its

commercialization.
Development of large scale process
Breeding of cells that can produce a product
Design of effective bioreactor to cultivate cells in
the most optimum conditions
Reactors that use these cells in producing a
product

CHE 142 Biochemical Engineering

Role of biochemical engineers

A typical biological
process
CHE 142 Biochemical Engineering

Role of biochemical engineers

q Biochemical

engineers work with biological scientists

to carry out bioprocesses on a large scale:
to

obtain the best biological catalyst (microorganism,

animal cell, plant cell or enzyme) for desired
applications.
to create the best possible environment for the catalyst
to perform by designing the bioreactor and operating it
in the most efficient way.
to separate the desired product from the reaction
mixture in the most economical way.
CHE 142 Biochemical Engineering

Role of biochemical engineers

q Issues

in process development and design of

bioprocesses

1. What change can be expected to occur?

Biochemical engineers should have understanding
of the basic sciences for the process involved.
These are microbiology, biochemistry, molecular
biology, genetics, and so on.

CHE 142 Biochemical Engineering

Role of biochemical engineers

2. How fast will the process take place?
This is where the expertise of chemical engineers
familiar with chemical kinetics and reactor design
plays a major role.
3. How can the system be operated and controlled for
the maximum yield?
On-line optimization algorithms need to be developed
and used to enhance the operability of bioprocess and to
ensure that these processes are operated at the most
economical points.
CHE 142 Biochemical Engineering

Role of biochemical engineers

4. How can the product be separated with the maximum
purity and minimum costs?
Separation techniques in downstream processing
Distillation
Absorption
Extraction
Adsorption
Drying
Filtration
Precipitation
Leaching

Chromatography
Electrophoresis
Dialysis

CHE 142 Biochemical Engineering

Biological process
q Industrial

applications
of biological
processes are to use
living cells or their
components to effect
the desired physical
and chemical
changes.

CHE 142 Biochemical Engineering

Biological process
q Advantages

of bioprocess over chemical process

Mild reaction condition

typical: room temp., atmospheric pressure, neutral pH
operation is less hazardous,
manufacturing facilities are less complex
Specificity
Effectiveness
Renewable resources
major raw material is biomass
Recombinant DNA technology

promises enormous possibilities to improve biological processes

CHE 142 Biochemical Engineering

Biological process
q Disadvantages

Complex product mixtures

In cases of cell cultivation (microbial, animal, or
plant), multiple enzyme reactions are occurring in
sequence or in parallel, the final product mixture
contains cell mass, many metabolic by-products,
and a remnant of the original nutrients. The cell
mass also contains various cell components.

CHE 142 Biochemical Engineering

Biological process

Dilute aqueous environments

The components of commercial interests are only

produced in small amounts in an aqueous medium.
Therefore, separation is very expensive. Since products
of bioprocesses are frequently heat sensitive, traditional
separation techniques cannot be employed. Therefore,
novel separation techniques that have been developed for
analytical purposes, need to be scaled up.

CHE 142 Biochemical Engineering

Biological process

Contamination

The fermenter system can be easily contaminated, since

many environmental bacteria and molds grow well in
most media. The problem becomes more difficult with the
cultivation of plant or animal cells because their growth
rates are much slower than those of environmental
bacteria or molds.

CHE 142 Biochemical Engineering

Biological process

Variability

Cells tend to mutate due to the changing environment

and may lose some characteristics vital for the success of
process. Enzymes are comparatively sensitive or unstable
molecules and require care in their use.

CHE 142 Biochemical Engineering

FERMENTATION
Traditional definition:
the process for the production of alcohol or lactic
acid from glucose (C6H12O6).

Broader definition:
an enzymatically controlled transformation of an
organic compound.
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Introduction to
Biochemical Engineering

END