Design of solid state bioreactor for industrial applications: An overview to conventional bioreactors

Industrial fermentation is the process that has been used in the production of a variety of bio-products that have a broad area of applications. Among the processes, the Solid State Fermentation (SSF) is vital, and its utilization has been growing every day. It is used in many industries including fertilizers, pharma, and food, where it has gained its importance as a substitute for the Submerged Fermentation (SmF). One primary application of SSF is in the production of enzymes that can be used for therapeutic purposes, whose yield is low and cost is higher in case of conventional methods. The major advantage of using SSF is the fact that raw materials for this process are obtained from agricultural wastes and to an extent some industrially produced wastes can be utilized. The usage of SSF is limited because of its inability to be used in large-scale production and in the extraction of the required products. The primary requirement is to overcome any difficulties that are associated with the currently used industrial bioreactors. Important factors that have to be considered is that every reactor has its own significance, and they can give a much better result when compared to other bioreactors; an extensive study has to be done to determine which bioreactors have a better capability on any particular enzyme. The main aim of this review is to study the limitations (e.g. heat transfer) of the conventional bioreactors that are available and how to overcome these limitations shall be addressed in the review.