IMMOBILIZATION OF MICROBIAL CELLS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF ORGANIC ACIDS

Techniques of immobilization of microbial- cells have been established by multifunctional reagents such as glutaraldehyed on a solid support. Immobilized cell reactor was designed to demonstrate stability of cross linking of whole cells for the production of organic acids. An eighty-six percent conversion of glucose was obtained for an eight hour retention time. The immobilized cell reactor is about 5-8 times faster than the continuous stirred tank reactor with free microbial cells. An appropriate kinetic model was obtained using immobilized propionibacterium acidipropionici on solid support