ABSTRACT
This chapter describes how an industrial organization has approached the development of a single-cell protein (SCP) process, from the choice of substrate to the commissioning of the world's largest continuous fermentation plant. SCP offers a new challenge to the process engineer of fermentation at enormously increased scale. The objective is to design a large-scale SCP plant which utilizes a methanol substrate. The chapter covers the overall mass balance considerations allowing the scale of the plant and its components to be assessed and visualized. It deals specifically with the more important aspects of plant design. Plants of capacities of 250,000 t/annum have been suggested. The ICI plant can produce in excess of 50,000 t/annum. Many SCP processes have been suggested based on the use of waste products. The objective is to design a large-scale SCP plant which utilizes a methanol substrate. Since the SCP plant contains driers, this constitutes solids handling; hence the 851k availability figure is justifiable.
