Optimization of ammonium nitrate concentration in single-stage continuous cultures of Aspergillus niger with biomass retention

The effect of ammonium nitrate concentration in the citric acid biosynthesis by Aspergillus niger NC-12 in single-stage continuous cultures with biomass retention was investigated. Experiments were carried out in a BIOMER laboratory fermenter with 5 dm³ working volume. At the initial stage of each cultivation, the substrate in the bioreactor contained 1.5 g NH₄NO₃ dm⁻³. After 120 h onwards, the bioreactor was fed continuously at a constant dilution rate of 0.009 h⁻¹. NH₄NO₃ concentration in the feed was varied from one culture to another, ranging between 0.5 g dm⁻³ and 2.5 g dm⁻³. Promising results were obtained when NH₄NO₃ concentration of 1.5 g dm⁻³ was used. The observed concentration of citric acid (c _P) and yield of citric acid with respect to the introduced sucrose (Y _P/S) were 117.88 g dm⁻³ and 78.59 %, respectively. The efficiency coefficient of citric acid biosynthesis (K _ef) was very high, amounting to 83.38. Presented at the 33rd International Conference of the Slovak Society of Chemical Engineering, Tatranské Matliare, 22–26 May 2006.     

Effect of Acetic Acid on Citric Acid Fermentation in an Integrated Citric Acid–Methane Fermentation Process

An integrated citric acid–methane fermentation process was proposed to solve the problem of extraction wastewater in citric acid fermentation process. Extraction wastewater was treated by anaerobic digestion and then recycled for the next batch of citric acid fermentation to eliminate wastewater discharge and reduce water resource consumption. Acetic acid as an intermediate product of methane fermentation was present in anaerobic digestion effluent. In this study, the effect of acetic acid on citric acid fermentation was investigated and results showed that lower concentration of acetic acid could promote Aspergillus niger growth and citric acid production. 5-Cyano-2,3-ditolyl tetrazolium chloride (CTC) staining was used to quantify the activity of A. niger cells, and the results suggested that when acetic acid concentration was above 8 mM at initial pH 4.5, the morphology of A. niger became uneven and the part of the cells’ activity was significantly reduced, thereby resulting in deceasing of citric acid production. Effects of acetic acid on citric acid fermentation, as influenced by initial pH and cell number in inocula, were also examined. The result indicated that inhibition by acetic acid increased as initial pH declined and was rarely influenced by cell number in inocula.     

The Potential of Immobilized Biocatalysts for Production of Industrial Chemicals

The successful translation from conception to practice of processes based on immobilized biocatalyst technology has been slower than anticipated. There are severe barriers, both technical and economic, limiting the introduction of immobilized biocatalyst technology to replace conventional processing procedures and processes for the production of chemicals by synthetic or fermentative routes. A small number of immobilized enzyme processes are in operation commercially, the most noteworthy being in food-related processes and in the pharmaceutical industry, where they are used for carbohydrate conversions and antibiotic transformations, respectively. There does not, as yet, appear to be any large-scale industrial application of immobilized cell technology. Examples from our laboratory—immobilized yeast for ethanol production andAspergillus niger for citric acid synthesis—illustrate the problems that have to be overcome.     

Optimization of culture parameters for production of podophyllotoxin in suspension culture of Podophyllum hexandrum

The root explants of the germinated seedlings of Podophyllum hexandrum were grown in MS medium supplemented with indole acetic acid (IAA) (2 mg/L) and activated charcoal (0.5%), and healthy callus culture was obtained after incubation for 3 wk at 20°C. The cultivation of plant cells in shake flask was associated with problems such as clumping of cells and browning of media, which were solved by the addition of pectinase and polyvinylpyrrolidone. The effect of major media components and carbon source was studied on the growth and podophyllotoxin production in suspension culture. It was found that glucose was a better carbon source than sucrose and that NH₄ ⁺:NO₃ ⁻ ratio (total nitrogen concentration of 60 mM) and PO₄ ³⁻ did not have much effect on the growth and product formation. The relative effect of culture parameters (inoculum level, pH, IAA, glucose, NH₄ ⁺:NO₃ ⁻ ratio, and PO₄ ³⁻) on the overall growth and product response of the plant cell suspension culture was further investigated by Plackett-Burman design. This indicated that inoculum level, glucose, IAA, and pH had significant effects on growth and production of podophyllotoxin. To identify the exact optimum concentrations of these parameters on culture growth and podophyllotoxin production, central composite design experiments were formulated. The overall response equations with respect to growth and podophyllotoxin production as a function of these culture parameters were developed and used to determine the optimum concentrations of these parameters, which were pH 6.0, 1.25 mg/L of IAA, 72 g/L of glucose, and inoculum level of 8 g/L.     

Effect of operating conditions on biomass growth during citric acid production by solid-state fermentation

The effect of aeration, agitation, and bed loading on biomass and product concentration during citric acid biosynthesis by solid-state fermentation was investigated. For this purpose, Aspergillus niger S was cultivated on sugar beet pulp in a 4.5 dm³ horizontal rotating drum bioreactor. The results suggest that the parameters examined have a remarkable effect on the quantity of biomass being formed and on the product concentration. The maximum citric acid production (about 150 g per kg of the substrate dry matter) was obtained under the following conditions: aeration rate 0.2 dm³ kg⁻¹ min⁻¹, mixing (periodical) 1 min once an hour, and bed loading 30 % of the bioreactor working volume. However, these values did not favour biomass formation. Moreover, it was found that accumulation of the product reached its maximum when the amount of biomass was minimal (approximately 252-29 g per kg of the substrate dry matter) under the conditions involved. Presented at the 34th International Conference of the Slovak Society of Chemical Engineering, Tatranské Matliare, 21–25 May 2007.     

Improvement on Citric Acid Production in Solid-state Fermentation by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Aspergillus niger</Emphasis> LPB BC Mutant Using Citric Pulp

Citric acid (CA) production has been conducted through a careful strain selection, physical–chemical optimization and mutation. The aim of this work was to optimize the physical–chemical conditions of CA production by solid-state fermentation (SSF) using the Aspergillus niger LPB BC strain, which was isolated in our laboratory. The parental and mutant strain showed a good production of CA using citric pulp (CP) as a substrate. The physical–chemical parameters were optimized and the best production was reached at 65% moisture, 30 °C and pH 5.5. The influence of the addition of commercial and alternative sugars, nitrogen sources, salts, and alcohols was also studied. The best results (445.4 g of CA/kg of CP) were obtained with sugarcane molasses and 4% methanol (v/w). The mutagenesis induction of LPB BC was performed with UV irradiation. Eleven mutant strains were tested in SSF where two mutants showed a higher CA production when compared to the parental strain. A. niger LPB B3 produced 537.6 g of CA/kg of CP on the sixth day of fermentation, while A. niger LPB B6 produced 616.5 g of CA/kg of CP on the fourth day of fermentation, representing a 19.5% and 37% gain, respectively.     

MgAl0.4Fe1.6O4 powders prepared via gel combustion

Powdered ferrite of composition MgAl_0.4Fe_1.6O₄ is prepared by the combustion of gels consisting of a mixture of magnesium, aluminum, and iron nitrates, citric acid, and NH₄NO₃ added into the reaction mixture. The process is demonstrated to involve a single stage without the formation of volatile carbon-containing compounds when the ratio of the number of NH₄NO₃ moles to the total number of metal nitrate moles n = 10.1.     

Solid-state fermentation with Aspergillus niger for cellobiase production

Aspergillus niger NRRL3 was cultivated in a moist wheat bran and ground corncob solid medium supplemented with inorganic minerals for the production of cellobiase (β-1,4-glucosidase, EC 3.2.1.21). With this method, A. niger NRRL3 was able to produce a high concentration of cellobiase (215 IU/gofsolid substrate) after 96 h of incubation. Temperature and moisture content affected final cellobiase titers. The best conditions for cell obiase production from solid substrate by A. niger NRRL3 were determined to be 70% moisture and 35°C.     

Purification and properties of carnitine acetyltransferase from citric acid producingAspergillus niger

Carnitine acetyltransferase was purified from the citric acid producingA. niger mycelium with a protein band showing a relative molecular weight of 77,000 and a pH optimum of 7.3. TheK _m values for the purified enzyme for acetyl-CoA and for carnitine were 0.1 mM and 1 mM, respectively. Carnitine acetyltransferase was located both in the mitochondria and in the cytosol. Both mitochondrial and cytosolic enzyme were purified using ammonium sulfate precipitation, Mono Q and Superose 12 separation. Regarding the localization, except for maximum velocity, there were no differences observed in substrate specificity and inhibition. Inhibition of the enzyme with micromolar concentrations of Cu²⁺ could contribute to a greater citric acid biosynthesis. Carnitine acetyltransferase can be considered as an enzyme necessary for the transport of acetyl groups through mitochondrial membrane in both directions.     

Culture medium optimization for acetic acid production by a persimmon vinegar-derived bacterium

A new acetic acid-producing microorganism, Acetobacter sp. RKY4, was isolated from Korean traditional persimmon vinegar, and we optimized the culture medium for acetic acid production from ethanol using the newly isolated Acetobacter sp. RKY4. The optimized culture medium for acetic acid production using this microorganism was found to be 40 g/L ethanol, 10 g/L glycerol, 10 g/L corn steep liquor, 0.5 g/L MgSO₄·7H₂O, and 1.0 g/L (NH₄H₂PO₄. Acetobacter sp. RKY4 produced 47.1 g/L of acetic acid after 48 h of fermentation in a 250 mL Erlenmeyer flask containing 50 mL of the optimized medium.     

Carob pod: A new substrate for citric acid production by Aspergillus niger

The production of citric acid from carob pod extract byA. niger in surface fermentation was investigated. A maximum citric acid concentration (85.5 g/L), citric acid productivity (4.07 g/L/d), specific citric acid production rate (0.18 g/g/d), and specific sugar uptake rate (0.358 g/g/d) was achieved at an initial sugar concentration of 200 g/L, pH of 6.5, and a temperature of 30°C. Other kinetic parameters, namely, citric acid yield, biomass yield, specific biomass production rate, and fermentation efficiency were maximum at pH 6.5, temperature 30°C, and initial sugar concentration 100 g/L. The external addition of methanol into the carob pod extract at a concentration up to 4% (v/v) improved the production of citric acid.     

Oxidation and Reduction Processes During NO x Removal with Corona-Induced Nonthermal Plasma

In this paper, the NO-to-NO ₂ conversion in various gaseous mixtures is experimentally investigated. Streamer coronas are produced with a dc-superimposed high-frequency ac power supply (10–60 kHz). According to NO _x removal experiments in N ₂ +NO _x and N ₂ +O ₂ +NO _x gaseous mixtures, it is supposed that the reverse reaction NO ₂ +ONO+O ₂ may not only limit NO ₂ production in N ₂ +NO _x mixtures, but also increase the energy cost for NO removal. Oxygen could significantly suppress reduction reactions and enhance oxidation processes. The reduction reactions, such as N+NON ₂ +O, induce negligible NO removal provided the O ₂ concentration is larger than 3.6%. With adding H ₂ O into the reactor, the produced NO ₂ per unit removed NO can be significantly reduced due to NO ₂ oxidation. NH ₃ injection could also significantly decrease the produced NO ₂ via NH and NH ₂ - related reduction reactions. Almost 100% of NO ₂ can be removed in gaseous mixtures of N ₂ +O ₂ +H ₂ O+NO ₂ with negligible NO production.     

Oxygen transfer rate and pH as major operating parameters of citric acid production from glycerol by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Yarrowia lipolytica</Emphasis> W29 and CBS 2073

The amount of citric acid (CA) produced by Yarrowia lipolytica is dependent on the yeast strain and growth conditions such as pH, oxygen availability and medium composition. In this work, an experimental design based on the Taguchi method was applied to evaluate the effect of parameters: pH, carbon/nitrogen (C/N) ratio in the medium, oxygen mass transfer rate (OTR) and salts concentration, on the CA production by two Y. lipolytica strains, W29 (ATCC 20460) and CBS 2073. OTR and pH showed higher influence on the CA production for both strains. The increase of OTR from air to the culture medium led to a two- and three-fold improvement of the CA production by Y. lipolytica CBS 2073 and W29, respectively. Besides the individual effects of the parameters, a significant influence of the interaction between these parameters was observed, mainly between OTR and salts. Different values of the parameters were found at the optimum conditions for each strain, but the theoretically predicted and experimentally obtained citric acid concentrations (c_CA) were approximately 10 g L^?1 for both strains. The optimal conditions were also validated employing crude glycerol from biodiesel industry as a substrate, and similar behavior of the strains was observed.     

Effect of span 20 concentration on oxalic acid production from post-refining fatty acids by Aspergillus niger XP

Submerged fermentation experiments were carried out to study the stimulating effects of the surfactant Span 20 on the growth of Aspergillus niger XP mutant and oxalic acid production from the post-refining fatty acids. Span 20 concentration of 0.75 g dm⁻³ was found to be the most suitable for oxalic acid production from fatty acids. Using this dose and a fermentation medium containing 30 g dm⁻³ of post-refining fatty acids, the oxalic acid production, oxalate yield, and overall oxalate productivity were the highest. Presented at the 33rd International Conference of the Slovak Society of Chemical Engineering, Tatranské Matliare, 22–26 May 2006.     

用于NO_x低温下吸附还原的CoO_x/CeO_2二元氧化物的制备

研究了以多孔二氧化硅微球和活性炭为载体制备NOx吸附/还原催化剂的方法,摸索了最佳Ce/Co物质的量的比例。采用低温氮吸附方法测定了样品的BET比表面和孔容,利用XRD方法表征了样品中所掺杂的金属元素的晶型。研究发现:当nCe/nCo=75/25时,材料获得最佳NOx吸附能力,当以多孔二氧化硅微球作载体时,材料对于NOx的吸附主要来自CoOx和CeO2的二元氧化物;当以活性炭作为载体时,活性炭参与了NOx的吸附,因此其吸附容量大大提高。对NOx的吸附机理进行了探讨,并研究了样品的NH3还原性质。     

Effects of Carbon and Nitrogen Sources and Oxygenation on the Production of Inulinase by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Kluyveromyces marxianus</Emphasis>

Cultivations of Kluyveromyces marxianus var. bulgaricus ATCC 16045 were performed on both minimal and complex media using different carbon and nitrogen sources either in the presence or absence of aeration. The results collected were worked out and compared so as to provide a useful contribution to the optimization of inulinase production. Kinetics of extracellular inulinase release were similar on glucose, fructose, and sucrose. Inulinase was detected at basal level since the beginning of batch runs on these three carbon sources and overproduced after their depletion. The highest inulinase activity in minimal medium containing 10 g/l sucrose (6.4 IU/ml) was obtained at an initial (NH₄)₂SO₄ concentration of 5 g/l, whereas it was reduced to about one fourth of this value and detected only at the beginning under nitrogen-limited conditions. The best sucrose concentrations for the enzyme production were 30 and 20 g/l in minimal and complex media, yielding 15.4 and 208 IU/ml, respectively. In general, the enzyme activity was much higher in complex than in minimal medium under all conditions. O₂-enriched air neither improved inulinase production nor prevented ethanol formation.     

Citric acid production with alginate bead entrappedAspergillus niger ATCC 9142

Aspergillus niger ATCC 9142 mycelium was entrapped in calcium alginate beads and employed in an air-lift completely stirred reactor for continuous production of citric acid. Maximum yield obtained from 10% (w/v) sucrose was 12 g dm^-3 with about 40% fermentation efficiency. Maximum rate of production 70 mg g^-1 h^-1 was about five times that obtained in classical batch fermentation.     

Influence of Tween 80 on lipid metabolism of an Aspergillus niger strain

Addition of 0.1% of nonionic surface-active Tween 80 to a medium optimized for pectolytic enzyme production of Aspergillus niger increased the amount of enzymes excreted by 70%. In the presence of Tween 80 the amount of sterol esters and triacylglycerols was increased. During the course of cultivation the amounts of precursors for ergosterol biosynthesis diminished with an increase of ergosterol. A. niger incorporated cholesterol from the medium, partly converting it to cholesterol esters. Sterol esters were formed only with selected fatty acids. Oleic acid, the hydrophobic part of Tween 80, was mainly incorporated in phospholipids and glycolipids.     

WO3改性CeO2-TiO2催化剂的低温NH3-NO/NO2 SCR活性和机理研究

在铈钛基NH3-SCR催化材料中,改性元素对催化材料的酸性位和氧化还原性能的影响较大.本文采用过量浸渍法分别制备了CeO2-TiO2(CeTi)和CeO2/WO3-TiO2(CeWTi)催化剂,研究了CeWTi催化材料结构、酸性位及氧化还原性能对NH3-NO/NO2 SCR反应性能的影响.结果发现,CeTi和CeWTi样品均有较优异的NH3-NO/NO2 SCR催化性能,后者略高.WO3的加入增加了催化材料的表面酸性,对其氧化还原性能影响不大.通过对反应中间物种NH4NO3的研究,发现NH4NO3的分解主要与氧化还原性能相关,而NO还原NH4NO3的反应需要氧化还原能力和酸性位共同作用,即在氧化还原性能差异不大的条件下,酸性对该反应起到重要作用.而该反应也是NH3-NO/NO2 SCR的限速步骤,这是CeWTi催化材料活性高于CeTi催化材料的原因.同时,为了获得NH3-NO/NO2 SCR反应的高活性,NO2:NO比例宜为1:1.然而现实情况中,预氧化催化材料的氧化活性、NOx浓度、温度等变量使得准确控制NO2的比例较难,因此,深入了解NO2浓度对NH3–NO/NO2 SCR反应的影响至关重要.本文探讨NO2:NO的比例、O2浓度等对NH3-NO/NO2 SCR反应性能的影响;并研究了不同NO2含量条件下NH3-NO/NO2 SCR反应网络.通过分析CeWTi材料上NH3-NO/NO2 SCR反应网络可知,当NO与NO2比例为1:1时,NH3-SCR催化活性最高,并以快速SCR形式进行;当NO与NO2比例为1:1消耗完全之后,剩余的NO或NO2各自独立以标准或慢速SCR进行,不影响其本来的反应活性.催化材料的标准SCR、快速SCR和慢速SCR均取决于材料表面酸度和氧化还原性能,但快速SCR和慢速SCR对材料这两方面性能的要求相对较低.同时O2并不参与快速和慢速SCR,而NO2可以取代O2作为SCR反应中主要的氧化剂,氧化Ce4+为Ce3+,甚至比O2和NO再氧化活性位的能力更强,保持催化材料的高催化活性.低温条件时,慢速SCR和快速SCR反应均在材料表面生成硝酸铵中间物种,但由于慢速SCR气氛中缺乏NO将硝酸铵还原,进而引发快速SCR反应,因此材料表面快速SCR的NOx转化率要高于慢速SCR反应;高温条件下,由于硝酸铵容易热分解,导致硝酸铵的抑制效应不太明显.NH4NO3分解是NO2含量升高后N2O的形成的主要途径.     

NH3-SCR脱硝催化剂抗硫性能的研究进展

氮氧化物(NO_x)是一种重要的大气污染物, 它造成严重的环境问题, 同时威胁人类健康. 以钢铁烧结烟气为代表的固定源和以柴油机尾气为代表的移动源是氮氧化物的主要来源. 氨气选择性催化还原法(NH₃-SCR)是目前最有效且应用最广泛的NO_x脱除技术. 然而, 无论是固定源还是移动源上NH₃-SCR催化剂, 都不可避免地会被SO₂毒化, 造成催化剂失活, 限制了NH₃-SCR技术的进一步应用. 因此, 研究NH₃-SCR催化剂的SO₂中毒机制以及提高催化剂的抗硫性能至关重要. 我们对固定源脱硝的金属氧化物和移动源上脱硝的Cu基分子筛这两类不同催化剂体系的SO₂中毒机制的研究进展进行了介绍, 并对这两种催化剂上提高抗硫性能改性方法的研究进展进行了评述, 为未来的研究提供了参考.