65
Large-Scale Production of BNC
Once. the. process. has. been. started. (stages. 1. and. 2),. the. bioprocess. can. be.
kept. stable. over. several. months,. without. any. need. for. disrupting,. manual.
intervention,.or.shutdown..Since.air.and.culture.medium.are.continuously.
fed.into.the.apparatus,.steady-state.cultivation.conditions.are.maintained.
The.BNC.material.called.JeNaCell ® ,.cultivated.within.the.HoLiR,.is.characterized. by. a. high. crystallinity. of. 82%. (G. xylinus. ATCC. 11142). to. 86%.
(G. xylinus.DSM.14666).and.a.homogeneous,.undisturbed.network.structure..
The.costs.for.BNC.generation.as.well.as.the.time.for.starting,.shutdown,.and.
cleaning.of.the.reactor.could.be.significantly.reduced.by.this.novel.approach.
compared.to.conventional.static.cultivation.
Conclusions
Although.several.BNC-based.products.are.commercially.available.today,.no.
efficient. automated. process. for. mass. production. of. this. biopolymer. on. an.
industrial.scale.has.been.realized.so.far..Thus.BNC.is.currently.not.economically.competitive.compared.with.other.more.established.polymers.in.most.
applications.. Exceptions. are. the. hand-made. production. of. nata. de. coco. in.
Asian.countries,.since.the.product.is.produced.from.the.cheap.raw.material.
coconut.water,.and.with.low.salaries.and.simple.techniques.
ation.are.ongoing.for.the.different.realizable.forms.of.this.biopolymer.addressing.various.future.applications..Aiming.for.BNC.in.the.form.of.pellets,.fibrous.
material,.or.sphere-like.particles,.agitated.culture.conditions.utilizing.airlift.or.
stirred-tank.reactors.have.been.used..Airlift.and.adapted.bubble-column-type.
reactors.have.been.successfully.tested.on.a.pilot.scale.using.a.reactor.volume.
of.50.l..Even.for.the.generation.of.flat.BNC.in.the.form.of.fleeces.and.foils,.novel.
reactor.types.have.been.developed.to.overcome.the.most.important.drawbacks.
of.static.cultivation:.area.and.workforce.intensity..The.(semi)continuous.HoLiR.
process.has.been.recently.transferred.to.pilot.scale.as.well.
These.developments.strengthen.the.hope.for.future.large-scale.production.
processes,.which.are.urgently.needed.to.bring.the.multitude.of.promising.
product.developments.based.on.BNC.from.the.laboratory.to.the.market.
References
Astley,. O.. M.,. E.. Chanliaud,. A.. M.. Donald,. and. M.. J.. Gidley.. 2001.. Structure. of.
Acetobacter. cellulose. composites. in. the. hydrated. state.. Int. J. Biol. Macromol..
29:193–202.
Large-Scale Production of BNC
Once. the. process. has. been. started. (stages. 1. and. 2),. the. bioprocess. can. be.
kept. stable. over. several. months,. without. any. need. for. disrupting,. manual.
intervention,.or.shutdown..Since.air.and.culture.medium.are.continuously.
fed.into.the.apparatus,.steady-state.cultivation.conditions.are.maintained.
The.BNC.material.called.JeNaCell ® ,.cultivated.within.the.HoLiR,.is.characterized. by. a. high. crystallinity. of. 82%. (G. xylinus. ATCC. 11142). to. 86%.
(G. xylinus.DSM.14666).and.a.homogeneous,.undisturbed.network.structure..
The.costs.for.BNC.generation.as.well.as.the.time.for.starting,.shutdown,.and.
cleaning.of.the.reactor.could.be.significantly.reduced.by.this.novel.approach.
compared.to.conventional.static.cultivation.
Conclusions
Although.several.BNC-based.products.are.commercially.available.today,.no.
efficient. automated. process. for. mass. production. of. this. biopolymer. on. an.
industrial.scale.has.been.realized.so.far..Thus.BNC.is.currently.not.economically.competitive.compared.with.other.more.established.polymers.in.most.
applications.. Exceptions. are. the. hand-made. production. of. nata. de. coco. in.
Asian.countries,.since.the.product.is.produced.from.the.cheap.raw.material.
coconut.water,.and.with.low.salaries.and.simple.techniques.
ation.are.ongoing.for.the.different.realizable.forms.of.this.biopolymer.addressing.various.future.applications..Aiming.for.BNC.in.the.form.of.pellets,.fibrous.
material,.or.sphere-like.particles,.agitated.culture.conditions.utilizing.airlift.or.
stirred-tank.reactors.have.been.used..Airlift.and.adapted.bubble-column-type.
reactors.have.been.successfully.tested.on.a.pilot.scale.using.a.reactor.volume.
of.50.l..Even.for.the.generation.of.flat.BNC.in.the.form.of.fleeces.and.foils,.novel.
reactor.types.have.been.developed.to.overcome.the.most.important.drawbacks.
of.static.cultivation:.area.and.workforce.intensity..The.(semi)continuous.HoLiR.
process.has.been.recently.transferred.to.pilot.scale.as.well.
These.developments.strengthen.the.hope.for.future.large-scale.production.
processes,.which.are.urgently.needed.to.bring.the.multitude.of.promising.
product.developments.based.on.BNC.from.the.laboratory.to.the.market.
References
Astley,. O.. M.,. E.. Chanliaud,. A.. M.. Donald,. and. M.. J.. Gidley.. 2001.. Structure. of.
Acetobacter. cellulose. composites. in. the. hydrated. state.. Int. J. Biol. Macromol..
29:193–202.