Title of Invention

DEVICE FOR CULTIVATING MICRO-ORGANISMS UNDER SPECIFIED CONDITIONS ON SOLID MEDIA

Abstract

Disclosed herein is a device for cultivating micro-organisms under specified conditions on solid media which comprises a plurality of module formed of a base plate and a frame, the base plat comprises of a communicating channel for carrying the necessary steam,air, water, innoculam or any other fluid and a non-communicating channel for carrying heating or cooling fluids, the plates being arranged vertically in the frame to form a stack.

Full Text

This invention relates to a device far cultivating fnicro- organisms under specified conditions on solid media. The reactor is of a modular construct ion and allows sol id state fermentation to be carried out in a manner such that the fe rment ing m icro-organism is kept isolated during the course of the fermentat ion from the outside enviranment. A farther aspect of this reactor is the capability it provides to sterilise, inoculate and control the fermenting medium temperature in situ. If the fermentation is used to produ.ce a product, then the product may be extracted from the rest of the fermenting medium, without having to dismantle or open the reactor. Following extraction of the product the reactor contents may be sterilised insitu and then, the reactor may be dismantled to discard the sterilised, spent substrate. The reactor can then be cleaned and reused for the next fermentation eye 1e. The reactor may be made of any suitable material including, but not limited to stainless steel and polycarbonate. The reactor can be used to cultivate bacteria, fungi or yeast. Any ferment at ion that can be carried out using so lid state fermentation can be carried out using this reactor. Because of the plate and frame nature of construction of the reactor of the present invent!an it will be known as "THE PLAFRACTOR". COMPARISON WITH PRIOR ART AND ADVANTAGES OF THE PLAFRACTOR: 1. A reactor for comb in ing all the operations involved in carrying out semi-solid/solid state fermentation into one device, has not been described unt i1 now. The operat ions that are combined are sterilisation, inoculation, fermentation, post fermentat ion extraction, post extraction sterilisation. This results in a compact solid state fermentation device. 2. Furthermore, a reactor of this modular nature of construction and capable of operating in a contained manner. i.e. allow the contact of the live fermenting micro-organism witn the outside environment, especially in the course of fermentation and post fermentation extraction, has not been described before. 3. The method of heat removal during the course of fermentation is primarily by conduction i.e. heat is removed by the coaling fluids, which circulate in the non-communicating channels. This is unlike the other described reactors for solid state fermentation, where the primary method of heat removal is by forcing air through the bed of by evaporative cooling i.e. evaporating moisture from the bed and then add back the moisture from the bed and then add back the moisture after the temperature has been controlled. The advantages of removing heat by conduction is two-fold. a) Only that amount of air that is needed for supplying oxygen needs to be sent into the bed. This independence from coaling requirements also facilitates the maintenane of any particular atmosphere (e.g. high CO ), that may be necessary for some fermentation reaction. b) When air is farced through the bed ta coal the fermenting medium or when water is evaporated from the bed to cool the fermenting medium, then there is a water loss from the fermenting medium, which can dry it up and adversely affect the fermentation reaction. Therefore the evaporated moisture from the bed needs to be calculated and then added back. This added moisture must then be mixed into the bed to prevent inhomogeneties in the bed moisture content. Also, to prevent excessive pressure drops through the bed due to the matted mycelium especially in the case of fungal fermentations, the bed must be mixed. Mixing results in mycelial breakage and in many cases, especially when carrying out fermentation involving non-septate genera e.g. Rhizhomucor, results in a drop in the qunatity of product produced by the fermentat ion. In the PLAFRACTOR, the bed thickness (i.e. the height of the frames) is so designed that all the heat can be removed by conduction and there .is no need to mix the bed during the fe rmentat ion. This invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, where in ? Fig 1 is a schematic view of the plate used; Fig 2 is the arrangement of a single frame and plate; and Fig 3 is the arrangement of the plate and frames to form a vertical stack. DESCRIPTION OF THE REACTOR: As can be seen from the figures, the reactor is made up of modules. The fermenting medium is contained within these modules. Several modules are assembled to form a stack. Several such stacks may be operated in parallel to give any desired batch size« The modules consist of a base plate 1 in which there are channels 2 and 3. The base plate is attached to a frame 4. The fermenting medium (not shown) is held within this frame and is in contact with the base plate. When several such modu1es are assemb1ed to form a stack (see Fig.3) they are sealed in a way that prevents leakage from within the modules to the outside. The dimensions of the moduic and the size of the stack can be as large as is convenient. The channels that run within the base plate may be of two types. The non-commun icat ing channeIs 3 carry heating or cooling fluids. The heating of cooling fluids pass into these channels from the outside and then pass out of the base plate wi tout coming into contact with the fermentation substrate inside the reactor. In th is process they heat or cool the base plate which in turn can heat or cool the substrate with wh ich it is in contact. The channe1 path for the fluids in the non-commun icating channels 3 may be designed to minimise temperature gradients. In addition to the channels described above, the base plate may also contain channels 2 which can carry steam, air, water, innoculum or any other fluid, (e.g. organic solvents) that may be necessary for the operation of the process. These channels are perforated and open into the reactor. They are therefore called communicating channels. The fluids described above pass into the communicating channels 2 from the outside and enter into the reactor, coming into contact with the fermentation substrate that is contained within the modules. These channels and the piping connecting them are so arranged such that fluids can pass through and out of the reactor or be retained within the reactor by closing the outlets. Additionally, each module may be equipped with a mixing device (not shown) as appropriate to enable the contents of each module to be mixed. The reactor may also be equipped with probes to mon itor the operating conditions. If the stack of modules is p1aced on a weigh ing device, then the changes in the total weight of the reactor and its contents during the various stages of the process may be mon itored and appIi ed. OPERATING PROCEDURE The cleaned modules of the Plafractor are filled with the fermentation medium. They are then assembled to-gether to farm a stack. Several such stacks may be operated to give a batch size as large as required. The fermentation medium is then sterilised by sending heating fluids through the non-communicating channels of the base plate and simultaneously, if necessary, steam into the rector through the communicating channels. Air trapped inside the reactor can be vented if required. After the heating and sterilisation cycle is over, the medium is cooled by passing cooling fluids through the non-communicating channels and additionally, by blowing sterile air through the reactor. The reactor is then inoculated by sending innoculum into the reactor through the communicating channels and then mixed with the mixing device, if necessary. Water may be sent in next to adjust the moisture content of the fermentation medium as requi red. During the course of the fermentation, moist sterile air is supplied to the reactor through the communicating channels and simultaneously, metabolic heat is removed by sending cooling fluids through the non-communicating channels. This operation can be automated along with all aspects of the earlier mentioned sterilisation and inoculation operations. Aft*?r the fermentation is over, and in the case of fermentations which are used to produce a product ektrace Ilular1y, extraction fluid may now be sent through the communicating holes. This fluid is any suitable fluid that can dissolve the product and bring it out of the reactor from where the product can be recovered. After the extraction of the product, the reactor along with the spent fermentation medium may be sterilised, to destroy the fermenting micro-organ ism, prior to disposal and c1e an ing . This invention relates to a device for cultivating micro-organisms under specified conditions on solid media. The reactor is of a modular construction and allows solid state fermentation to be carried out in a manner such that the fermenting micro-organism is kept isolated during the course of the fermentation from the outside environment. A further aspect of this reactor is the capability it provides to sterilize, inoculate and control the fermenting medium temperature insitu. If the fermentation is used to produce a product, then the product may be extracted from the rest of the fermenting medium, without having to dismantle or open the reactor. Following extraction of the product the reactor contents may be sterilized insitu and then> the reactor may be dismantled to discard the sterilized, spent substrate. The reactor can then be cleaned and re-used for the next fermentation cycle. The reactor may be made of any suitable material including, but not limited to stainless steel and polycarbonate. The reactor can be used to cultivate bacteria, fungi or yeast Any fermentation that can be carried out using solid state fermentation can be carried out using this reactor. Because of the plate and frame nature of construction of the reactor of the present invention it will be known as 'THE PLAFRACTOR". COMPARISON WITH PRIOR ART AND ADVANTAGES OF THE PLAFRACTOR; 1. A reactor for combining all the operations involved in carrying out semi-solid/solid state fermentation into one device has not been described until now. The operations that are combined are sterilization, inoculation, fermentation, post-fermentation extraction, post-extraction sterilization. This results in a compact solid-state fermentation device. 2. Furthermore, a reactor of this modular nature of construction and capable of operating in a contained manner i.e., not allowing the contact of the live fermenting micro-organism with the outside environment, especially in the course of fermentation and post- fermentation extraction, has not been described before. 3. The method of heat removal during the course of fermentation is primarily by conduction i.e., heat is removed by the cooling fluids, which circulate in the non-communicating channels. This is unlike the other described reactors for solid state fermentation, where the primary method of heat removal is by forcing air through the bed by evaporative cooling i.e., evaporating moisture from the bed and then add back the moisture after the temperature has been controlled. The advantage of removing heat by conduction is two-fold. a) Only that amount of air that is needed for supplying oxygen needs to be sent into the bed. This independence from cooling requirements also facilitates the maintenance of any particular atmosphere (Example: high C02), that may be necessary for some fermentation reaction. b) When air is forced through the bed to cool the fermenting medium or when water is evaporated from the bed to cool the fermenting medium, then there is a water loss from the fermenting medium, which can dry it up and adversely affect the fermentation reaction. Therefore, the evaporated moisture from the bed needs to be calculated and then added back. This added moisture must then be mixed into the bed to prevent inhomogeneties in the bed moisture content. Also, to prevent excessive pressure drops through the bed due to the matted mycelium especially in the case of fungal fermentations, the bed must be mixed. Mixing results in mycelial breakage and in many cases, especially when carrying out fermentation involving non-septate genera eg., Rhizhomucor, results in a drop in the quantity of product produced by the fermentation. In the PLAFRACTOR, the bed thickness (i.e., the height of the frames) is so designed that all the heat can be removed by conduction and there is no need to mix the bed during the fermentation. This invention thus provides a device for cultivating micro-organisms under specified conditions on solid media, which comprises a plurality of modules formed of a base plate (1) and a frame (4), the base plate (1) comprises of a communicating channel (2) for carrying the necessary steam, air, water, innoculam or any other fluid, the said channel is perforated opened into the base plate and a non-communicating channel (3) for carrying heating or cooling fluids, the said channels are being placed around the frame(4)) the plates (1) being arranged vertically in the frame to form a stack. This invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein; Figure 1 is a schem atic view of the plate used; Figure 2 is the schematic of a single frame and plate; Figure 3 is the arrangement of the plate and frames to form a vertical stack, and Figure 4 is the arrangement of the stacks and the piping arrangement to the channels. DESCRIPTION OF THE REACTOR: As can be seen from the figures, the reactor is made up of modules. The fermenting medium is contained within these modules. Several modules are assembled to form a stack. Several such stacks may be operated in parallel to give any desired batch size. The modules, which are assembled to form a stack are sealed with a rubber gasket 5. The modules consist of a base plate 1 in which there are communicating channels 2 and non-communicating channels 3. The base plate 1 is attached to a frame 4. The fermenting medium (not shown) is held within this frame and is in contact with the base plate. When several such modules are assembled to form a stack (see Fig. 3 and Fig. 4) they are sealed in a way that prevents leakage from within the modules to the outside. The dimensions of the module and the size of the stack can be as large as is convenient. The channels that run within the base plate may be of two types. The non-communicating channels 3 carry heating or cooling fluids. The heating or cooling fluids pass into these channels from the outside and then pass out of the base plate without coming into contact with the fermentation substrate inside the reactor. In this process they heat or cool the base plate which in turn can heat or cool the substrate with which it is in contact. The channel path for the fluids in the non-communicating channels 3 may be designed to minimize temperature gradients. In addition to the channels described above, the base plate may also contain channels 2 which can carry steam, air, water, innoculum or any other fluid, (Example; Organic Solvents) that may be necessary for the operation of the process. These channels are perforated and open into the reactor. They are therefore called communicating channels. The fluids described above pass into the communicating channels 2 from the outside and enter into the reactor, coming into contact with the fermentation substrate that is contained within the modules. These channels and the piping 6 connecting them are so arranged such that fluids can pass through and out of the reactor or be retained within the reactor by closing the outlets. The material to be fermented is placed in each module before they are stacked and sealed. Additionally, each module may be equipped with a mixing device (not shown) as appropriate to enable the contents of each module to be mixed. The reactor may also be equipped with probes to monitor the operating conditions. If the stack of modules is placed on a weighing device, then the changes in the total weight of the reactor and its contents during the various stages of the process may be monttored and applied. OPERATING PROCEDURE The cleaned modules of the Plafractor are filled with the fermentation medium. They are then assembled together to form a stack. Several such stacks may be operated to give a batch size as large as required. The fermentation medium is then sterilized by sending heating fluids through the non-communicating channels of the base plate and simultaneously, if necessary, steam into the reactor through the communicating channels. Air trapped inside the reactor can be vented if required. After the heating and sterilization cycle is over, the medium is cooled by passing cooling fluids through the non-communicating channels and additionally, by blowing sterile air through the reactor. The reactor is then inoculated by sending innoculum into the reactor through the communicating channels and then mixed with the mixing device, if necessary. Water may be sent in next to adjust the moisture content of the fermentation medium as required. During the course of the fermentation, moist sterile air is supplied to the reactor through the communicating channels and simultaneously, metabolic heat is removed by sending cooling fluids through the non-communicating channels. This operation can be automated along with all aspects of the earlier mentioned sterilization and inoculation operations. After the fermentation is over, and in cases of fermentation which are used to produce a product extracellularly, extraction fluid may now be sent through the communicating holes. This fluid is any suitable fluid that can dissolve the product and bring it out of the reactor from where the product can be recovered. After the extraction of the product, the reactor along with the spent fermentation medium may be sterilized, to destroy the fermenting micro-organism, prior to disposal and cleaning. WE CLAIM : 1. A device for cultivating micro-organisms under specified conditions on solid media, which comprises a plurality of modules formed of a base plate (1) and a frame (4), the base plate (1) comprises of a communicating channel (2) for carrying the necessary steam, air, water, innoculam or any other fluid, the said channel is perforated opened into the base plate and anon-communicating channel (3) for carrying heating or cooling fluids, the said channels are being placed around the frame (4), the plates (1) being arranged vertically in the frame to form a stack. 2. A device as claimed in Claim 1, wherein a mixing device is being provided in the module to mix the reactants in the base plate. 3. A device as claimed in Claim 1 or 2, wherein the channels are being provided with the necessary piping (6). 4. A device for cultivating micro-organisms under specified conditions on solid media substantially as herein before described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

Documents:

1069-MAS-1994 ABSTRACT.pdf

1069-MAS-1994 CLAIMS.pdf

1069-MAS-1994 CORRESPONDENCE OTHERS.pdf

1069-MAS-1994 CORRESPONDENCE PO.pdf

1069-MAS-1994 DESCRIPTION (COMPLETE).pdf

1069-MAS-1994 DRAWINGS.pdf

1069-MAS-1994 FORM-1 04-11-1994.pdf

1069-MAS-1994 FORM-1.pdf

1069-MAS-1994 FORM-13.pdf

1069-MAS-1994 FORM-5.pdf

1069-MAS-1994 OTHERS.pdf

1069-MAS-1994 POWER OF ATTORNEY.pdf