Glycerol Case Study
1175 Words
5 Pages
In 1985-1990 we see that various scientists such as Kalle (1985), Vikar and Panesar (1987), and Hecker et al. (1990) had begun endeavors to develop more efficient alkali and sulfite processes. This was done by attempted by sparging with CO2 (the bubbling of inert gases in the liquid to remove dissolved gases) or installing a vacuum in the fermenter to control aeration. This method resulted in a 40% glycerol yield efficiency at concentrations of 230 g/L. (Kalle, 1985; Vikar and Panesar, 1987). A fed-batch and continuous version of this reactor was also used, however there were no significant changes in yield, and the cost to efficiency ratio did not make sense to continue the continuous system. The production of glycerol with S. cerevisiae is
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Glycerol has very high boiling points and is generally produced in low yields when performing the sulfite-steered process causing difficulty in extraction. Through ethanol distillation and the precipitation of salts and sulfites, the extraction of glycerol using vacuum distillation results in approximately 50% recovery of the yield. In the production of glycerol by S. cerevisiae the ideal method to use is ion exchange resins, which remove 95% of the impurities that are ionic and about 92% of the anionic impurities. Due to the complexity of the resin’s nature, inactivation occurs quite frequently, thus the broth must be pretreated, which is fairly difficult. Using a combination of glycerol and ion exchange chromatography it is claimed that from 3.1 tons of starch, 1 ton of medical grade glycerol can be produced (Zhuge & Liu, 1990; Agarwal, 1990). Zhuge (1999) suggests that the glycerol production can become fairly simple and efficient. He suggests all mutagenesis, genetic improvement of strains through breeding and overexpression. They are all based on direct channeling from glucose in the glycolytic pathway to glycerol. Zhuge suggests modifying the S. cerevisiae to overproduce glycerol, which in turn would theoretically result in three times the amount of glycerol produced relative to a basic S. cerevisiae strain (Zhuge, …show more content…
The development of glycerol in China has significantly improved the overall state of glycerol production. China provides approximately 10,000 tons every year on a commercial basis for itself. Due to China’s large manufacturing industry, this only makes up about 12% of the total country’s needs. This large amount is a result of the vicarious isolation of yeast cells that have the ability to produce large amounts of glycerol through fermentation. In addition to this the recovery systems have vastly improved as well. The only way the yields of glycerol can be more efficient and acceptable for use in the industrial and commercial business is for biotechnologists to learn more about the process of glycerol metabolism in yeast cells and create newer strains through genetic engineering (Zhuge,
Glycerol has very high boiling points and is generally produced in low yields when performing the sulfite-steered process causing difficulty in extraction. Through ethanol distillation and the precipitation of salts and sulfites, the extraction of glycerol using vacuum distillation results in approximately 50% recovery of the yield. In the production of glycerol by S. cerevisiae the ideal method to use is ion exchange resins, which remove 95% of the impurities that are ionic and about 92% of the anionic impurities. Due to the complexity of the resin’s nature, inactivation occurs quite frequently, thus the broth must be pretreated, which is fairly difficult. Using a combination of glycerol and ion exchange chromatography it is claimed that from 3.1 tons of starch, 1 ton of medical grade glycerol can be produced (Zhuge & Liu, 1990; Agarwal, 1990). Zhuge (1999) suggests that the glycerol production can become fairly simple and efficient. He suggests all mutagenesis, genetic improvement of strains through breeding and overexpression. They are all based on direct channeling from glucose in the glycolytic pathway to glycerol. Zhuge suggests modifying the S. cerevisiae to overproduce glycerol, which in turn would theoretically result in three times the amount of glycerol produced relative to a basic S. cerevisiae strain (Zhuge, …show more content…
The development of glycerol in China has significantly improved the overall state of glycerol production. China provides approximately 10,000 tons every year on a commercial basis for itself. Due to China’s large manufacturing industry, this only makes up about 12% of the total country’s needs. This large amount is a result of the vicarious isolation of yeast cells that have the ability to produce large amounts of glycerol through fermentation. In addition to this the recovery systems have vastly improved as well. The only way the yields of glycerol can be more efficient and acceptable for use in the industrial and commercial business is for biotechnologists to learn more about the process of glycerol metabolism in yeast cells and create newer strains through genetic engineering (Zhuge,