Process Systems Engineering for Biofuels Development

7Computer‐Aided Design for Genetic Modulation to Improve Biofuel Production

Feng‐Sheng Wang and Wu‐Hsiung Wu

Department of Chemical Engineering, National Chung Cheng University, Chiya 62102, Taiwan

7.1 Introduction

Bioprocess engineering is a branch of biotechnology that is responsible for translating the discoveries of science into practical products, processes, or systems that can serve the needs of society. The improvement in production processes to achieve commercially viable production levels is a prerequisite for any bioprocesses. Improvements in the product yield, rate of production, and final product concentration are common goals in achieving more efficient and cost‐effective bioprocesses. These improvements can be achieved by two main approaches: process development and genetic modulation. Process improvements as shown in Figure 7.1 involve the adjustment of the environment of the organisms and the optimization of parallel and downstream processes to achieve the best possible performance. Process improvements integrate bioreactor, recovery, separation, purification, and utility in order to evaluate process economics and its performance to achieve maximum productivity and minimal cost. Optimization is generally applied to bioprocesses toward achieving those goals. For example, Singh and Rangaiah applied multi‐objective optimization (minimizing greenhouse gas emissions and cost of manufacture) to solve a bioethanol recovery and dehydration process (Singh and Rangaiah ...