Integrated Bioprocess Experiments for the Undergraduate Chemical Engineering Curriculum

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The university was originally established with a vision to support the industries of Michigan and the upper midwest. In the Department of Chemical Engineering, this has meant supporting the traditional chemical processing industries that are vital to the region. Yet, each year chemical engineers enter a marketplace more technically diverse than it was in years past. Today, a greater percentage of chemical engineers are finding employment in the areas of environmental engineering, electronics fabrication, and biochemical processing. To meet this growing diversity, the department has committed substantial resources to a new biochemical engineering emphasis, which was recognized in particular because of both student interest and regional demand for engineers trained in bioprocessing. To initiate this effort, the department has added two new faculty with expertise in biochemical engineering. These faculty have responded by developing new biochemical engineering courses for the students that will provide the needed classroom training. The missing ingredient in the development has clearly been the lack of hands-on, laboratory experience in biochemical engineering. To meet this need, this project establishes a pair of integrated bioprocess engineering experiments that allows students to both produce a biochemical from raw materials and purify it using industrially relevant bioseparation techniques. The new system, L-lysine production by bacterial fermentation and recovery by ion-exchange chromatography, gives students first-hand experience with a complete pilot-scale facility, while also serving to demonstrate the application of chemical and biochemical engineering fundamentals. Thus, the project serves not only the students interested in biochemical engineering but also the students interested in traditional chemical engineering since it provides a unique system for studying chemical process fundamentals such as heat and mass transfer, process control, and chemical kinetics. This project builds on the department's multimillion-dollar chemical processing pilot-plant facilities by integrating a bioprocessing pilot-plant facility. *