P39: Production Mitigation in an Ethanol Fermentation Process

Industrial production by microbial fermentation requires rigorous maintenance, remediation and mitigation to effectively inhibit competing ecologies. Contamination may cause a reduction in metabolic titer, increase feedstock cost and pose a potential food safety and health hazard. Sterilization is often unattainable and/or not economically feasible; however, maintaining a clean fermentation system is paramount to a cost-effective and environmentally-responsible process. In this study, several aspects of a fermentation process were evaluated for microbial contamination. Mitigation of contaminated points included: physical cleaning, steam, sporulation, pH, flow rates and process monitoring.