Metabolic-fluid dynamics model construction and scale-down design for an industrial penicillin chrysogenum fermentation with combined dissolved oxygen and glucose concentration dynamics

This study focuses on the metabolic impacts of simultaneous glucose and oxygen concentration gradients on penicillin production in an industrial-scale fermentor, using the computational fluid dynamics-cellular reaction dynamics approach. Inclusion of oxygen-coupling considerably impacts the glucose uptake and resulting penicillin productivity. This is characterised by six metabolic regimes; lifeline data reconstructed from experimental results, recorded from the cellular perspective, indicates rapid dynamics in glucose and dissolved oxygen uptake by the microorganisms. The results are highly sensitive to variations in the oxygen-related model parameters, requiring accurate insight into the multiphase hydrodynamics and metabolic processes. Hypothetical scenarios with stronger glucose-oxygen limitations than tested experimentally were further explored. A precision scale-down (SD) simulator was designed based on the lifeline data, requiring considerable operational dynamics, with increasing system complexity and implementation difficulty. These insights may inspire further research into alternative SD configurations better suited to mimic the rapid dynamics of large-scale fermentation processes.