OVERVIEW

This course introduces the student to the knowledge of some of the most widespread fermentation processes currently used in industry and their production plants. Examples from both traditional industrial microbiology and recently applied bioconversions are analyzed in terms of yield, cost-effectiveness and environmental impact of the process, as well as by taking into account the peculiar metabolic properties of the selected microorganisms or biological agents.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Basic knowledge of industrial, environmental, pharmaceutical and food processes involving fermentation steps. Acquisition of fundamental contents of microbiology and bacterial biochemistry related to industrial fermentation processes. Explanation of techniques and plants usually employed in the main industrial fermentation processes.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The teaching aims to develop the student's ability to correlate the theoretical notions on industrial microbiology and fermentation plants with the experimental data to formulate general criteria for their application uses. To pursue this goal, the lectures are always accompanied by concrete examples related to daily life and industrial practice. At the end of the teaching the student will be able to:

• know the main classes of microorganisms or biological agents employed in industrial microbiology and their application areas;
• illustrate in detail a scheme of fermentation plan according to the symbology commonly adopted in the industrial field;
• describe and comment with appropriate terminology a fermentation process according to the final product, the characteristics of the selected biological agent and the plant adopted.

PREREQUISITES

No official pre-requisites required.

TEACHING METHODS

The teaching consists of traditional lectures for a total of 32 hours, sometimes accompanied with exercises carried out by the teacher in the classroom. The teaching is held for 28 hours of traditional lectures (3.5 CFU) by prof. Marina Alloisio and for 4 hours of traditional lectures (0.5 CFU) by prof. Maila Castellano.

Lesson notes and plant schemes are uploaded to the corresponding AulaWeb page simultaneously with their content presentation in the classroom.

In order to facilitate the individual preparation, verification tests are uploaded to the corresponding aul@web page.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

Recalls on fundamentals on industrial fermentation processes.

Microbial groups of industrial interest: classification, metabolism, growth and preservation of cultures.

Examples of industrial fermentation: methane fermentation, fermentation of linear and aromatic hydrocarbons, fermentation of nitrogen compounds; production of ethanol, yeast, organic acids; production of enzymes and single-cell proteins; production of amino acids, antibiotics, polyesters and bacterial polysaccharides.

Bioconversions: general principles and applications (production of amino acids, conversion of steroids).

Biological treatment of wastewater.

Examples of fermentation and bioconversion plants: production of ethanol, yeast, citric acid, penicillin, single-cell proteins; enzymatic reactors; reactors for biological treatment of wastewater).

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

M. Marzona, “Chimica delle fermentazioni e microbiologia industriale”, Piccin Ed., Padova, 1996.

C. Ratledge, B. Kristiansen, “Biotecnologie di base”, Zanichelli Ed., Bologna, 2004.

S. Aiba, A.E. Humphrey, N.F. Mills, “Biochemical engineering”, New York: Academic Press, Inc., 1973.

K. Schugerl, “Bioreaction engineering”, Chichester, Sussex, UK; John Wiley & Sons, 1987.

O. Levenspiel, “Ingegneria delle reazioni chimiche”, edizione italiana a cura di E. Sebastiani, Milano: Casa Editrice Ambrosiana, 1978.

H.S. Fogler, “Elements of chemical reaction engineering”, 4a editizione, Upper saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 2006.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

MARINA ALLOISIO (President)

MAILA CASTELLANO

LESSONS

LESSONS START

The teaching is held in the second semester, starting on mars 3rd, 2021.

SINCE IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO PROVIDE A DEFINITIVE LESSONS SCHEDULE NOW DUE TO THE COVID EMERGENCY AND PROVISIONS RELEASED BY UNIGE CONCERNING THE TEACHING ACTIVITY IN PHASE 3, WE STRONGLY RECOMMEND THAT STUDENTS FREQUENTLY VISIT THE FOLLOWING WEBSITES FOR AN UPDATE.

https://corsi.unige.it/8756/p/studenti-orario

TO BE UPDATED ON THIS TOPICS

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

The exam is an oral examination conducted by the two teachers in charge for a duration of at least 30 minutes. During the calendar year, seven exam dates are set up within the time intervals scheduled by the Manifesto degli Studi.

The oral examination consists of three parts; each of them are awarded a maximum rating of 10/30 for the exam evaluation:

- the examination always begins with the description of a fermentation plant among those included in the teaching program; the plant is chosen by the examination committee;

- in the second part the student is asked to illustrate and classify the fermentative process related to the plant described before (chemistry, characteristics and associated problems);

- in the third part the student is called upon to answer one or two questions related to other topics of the teaching program.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

Goal of the assessment is to verify the mastery and understanding of the teaching topics by the student as well as its ability to apply theoretical concepts to real situations, concerning the realization, productivity, cost-effectiveness and impact of industrial processes involving fermentation steps. Moreover, the oral exam will serve to verify that the student has reached an adequate level of knowledge of the topics developed during the lectures as well as the ability to express himself using a correct terminology. The student's ability to compare and critically analyze different processes will also be assessed.

 If the learning outcomes are not achieved, the student is invited to deepen his preparation also by taking advantage of further explanations by the teachers before repeating the exam.

As a quality assurance, the detailed program of the teaching is uploaded to the corresponding AulaWeb page, so that students can verify the correspondence between topics and learning outcomes.

Exam schedule

FURTHER INFORMATION

No official pre-requisites required.