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Mechanical perspectives on design of fermenter are discussed. The influencing parameters on the metabolism are discussed. Conclusions on optimization of operating condition are discussed.

There are several influencing parameters that have great effect on the growth of required substrate and micro organism. Since there are two types of environment under consideration in the fermenter, both type of environment much be susceptible for growth and development of the microorganisms of need. The environments we will be considering are microenvironment- which is the surrounding around a certain system or the organism, and the macro environment- which is the fermenter system as a whole. Microenvironment has a massive effect upon macro environment yet many parameters of micro environment are hard to control so the focus will be on macro-environment improvisation and optimization. For the development of a fermenter there are several physical parameters under concern. The first one is aeration, which is the control of the supply of air, yet must be in proper amount in order to regulate the system. So the speeds of impellers, area of the fermenter baffles have a positive effect on the aeration. The second important parameter is temperature or heat. It is essential for the growth of the microorganism yet if it exceeds more than need, it will destroy the growth of microorganisms, or help in the formation of undesirable byproducts. Thus temperature control using sensors need to be done. The third important parameter is the density of substrate. While the impeller is rotating there are two levels of the product formation, one above the impeller and one below the impeller. Therefore, the variation in density causes accumulation of heat, lack of air, and lack of nutrition. So it is important to bring uniformity in the density of the substrate throughout the Fermenter. The fourth important parameter is control of pressure inside the fermenter. The byproduct produced during the fermentation process comes out in the formation of gas too. There is the formation of two types of bubbles, large bubbles which can/ must be controlled by regulating the speed of the impeller, and small bubbles which are outcomes of fermentation process. The production of gas inside the fermenter increases the pressure inside it, thus has negative effect on macro environment as a whole. So, control systems to regulate the pressure are important. The fifth important parameter is the choice of material used in fabrication of the fermenter. The material must be non corrosive, non-oxidizing and must play a neutral role while in reaction with the substrate.

Thus a mechanical Engineer has a role in material selection, design improvement, and development of auto regulating control system, on the development process of new fermenter. He has to take care in selection of impellers, sizing of vessel, aeration control, pressure control, and development of feed system in continuous type fermenter.