Design, construction and optimization a flexible bench-scale rotating biological contactor (RBC) for enhanced production of bacterial cellulose by Acetobacter Xylinium

Bioprocess and Biosystems Engineering (2021)Cite this article

Abstract

In this research a bench scale rotating biological contactor (RBC) was designed and constructed to produce BC. The effects of variables including rotation speed of the disk, distance between disks, disk type and external aeration on BC productivity were investigated. Results showed that the highest weight of BC produced on the surface of integrated polyethylene discs which rotated at 13 rpm. It was also found that the highest amount of BC was obtained when the space between two adjacent discs was adjusted to 1 cm and the disk number was 16. An aquarium pump was used to investigate the impact of aeration on RBC made of 12 integrated polyethylene discs and operated at optimal rotation speed of 13 rpm. Disk spacing distance was adjusted to 1.5 cm to consider the possible increasing of the thickness of BC film by aeration. Wet weight and dry weight of BC resulted from aerated fermentation increased more than 64 and 47%, respectively as compared to non-aerated RBC. In comparison with static culture, wet weight and dry weight of BC produced in aerated RBC fermentation increased more than 90.7 and 71%, respectively. Nanoscale structure of produced bacterial cellulose was confirmed by SEM analysis.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financed by Department of Bioscience and biotechnology, Faculty of Chemistry and chemical engineering, Malek Ashtar university of Technology, Tehran, Iran.

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Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Malek Ashtar University of Technology, Tehran, Iran

    Ali soleimani, Valiollah Babaeipour & Motahreh Rouhi

  2. Department of Biological Remediation, Faculty of New Technologies and Energy Engineering, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran

    Sepideh Hamedi

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  1. Ali soleimani
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  2. Sepideh Hamedi
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  4. Motahreh Rouhi
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Correspondence to Valiollah Babaeipour.

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soleimani, A., Hamedi, S., Babaeipour, V. et al. Design, construction and optimization a flexible bench-scale rotating biological contactor (RBC) for enhanced production of bacterial cellulose by Acetobacter Xylinium. Bioprocess Biosyst Eng (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-021-02510-0

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Keywords

  • Acetobacter xylinium
  • Bacterial nano-cellulose
  • Productivity
  • Rotating biological contactor (RBC)