ABSTRACT
A fermentative process affording high Bacterial cellulose (BC) yields at low capital and operating costs will allow the release onto the market of a product with a range of potential applications that exceeds the biomedical niche market. The economic feasibility of BC production is directly dependent on its productivity. The energy cost of an airlift reactor is typically one-sixth of that of a stirred tank reactor. The agitation power of an airlift reactor is limited, resulting in low fluidity of the culture broth, especially at high cellulose concentrations. Both agitation and aeration systems result in cellulose-negative mutants, highly branched, three-dimensional, reticulated BC structure. With membrane bioreactors, the major drawbacks include the high operating costs and the difficulty in collecting the cellulose from the reactors. Data gathered showed that although it is possible to devise an economically feasible biotechnological process for BC production, the high selling costs would indeed restrain BC to high-value niche markets.
