ABSTRACT
Much of the recent activity in the new biotechnology is associated with the production of high-value products at a relatively small scale. However, the more conventional fermentation industry has a long history of large-scale production of commodity-type products. This type of technology will gain increasing importance as the production of fuels and chemicals from renewable resources again becomes economically viable. Although many advanced research and development concepts will have applications in either type of biotechnology, the primary interest here will be to consider the large-scale systems, with particular emphasis on bioconversion systems.
