Comparison of Microbial and Chemical Process

Todd French, PhDMississippi State University

Dave C. Swalm School of Chemical Engineeringfrench@che.msstate.edu

662-325-4308

What are Microorganisms?

• Living organisms too small to see without the aide of magnification

• Members– Commercially Important Chemical Producers

• Bacteria• Archaea• Fungi• Yeast

– Non Commercially• Viruses• Protozoans• Ameobes

http://www.microbeworld.org/images/microbes/methanopyrus.jpg

http://biyolojiegitim.yyu.edu.tr/k/Legi/images/Legionella%20bacteria_jpg.jpg4

http://www.kitchenproject.com

Natural Facts

• Microorganisms require their nutrients to be in solution.– That solvent is water

• Life as we understand it has to have the following in order of abundance– Water– Carbon– Nitrogen– Phosphorus– Trace Elements

• Microorganisms follow all of the natural laws as does everything– For example

• They cannot create energy• They cannot cause a reaction to occur that would not naturally occur• They derive the energy from reduced metals, organics, hydrogen, or sunlight.

Madigan, M.T.  Martinko, and J. Parker.  2003.  Biology of Microorganisms.  Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River, NJ

Creating A Carbon-Based Life Form

• List the criteria that we must address to have a living breathing organism?– Should we protect this creation from the

elements?– Where will this organisms obtain energy?– How do we control the mass and energy

changes? – How do we regulate water movement and is it

necessary?

How did Nature do it?

http://www.smartdraw.com/examples/content/Examples/Healthcare/Microbiology_&_Biochemistry/Bacteria_L.jpg

Protection from the Environment

Building Blocks of Microbial Life

http://www.bact.wisc.edu/Microtextbook/images/book_4/chapter_2/2-39.gif

http://www.ewa.cz/pages1/813_soubory/aminoacids.gif

http://www.elmhurst.edu/~chm/vchembook/images/580bases.gif

Organic Energy Sources

http://staff.jccc.net/PDECELL/cellresp/glycolysis.gifhttp://www.biologyreference.com/images/biol_02_img0148.jpg

http://www.brooklyn.cuny.edu/bc/ahp/MBG/MBG4/Enzymes.02.GIF

Enzymatic Reactions

http://tigger.uic.edu/classes/phys/phys461/phys450/ANJUM05/hexokinase.jpg

http://nobelprize.org/educational_games/medicine/dna/a/translation/pics/translation2.gifhttp://www.geneticengineering.org/chemis/Chemis-NucleicAcid/Graphics/Transcription.gif

Catalyst Kinetics

• Enzyme Kinetics • Heterogeneous catalyst kinetics

http://www.hottopos.com/regeq11/images/reg016.gif

http://www.irvingcrowley.com/cls/competitive-grap.gifhttp://scsg20.unige.ch/~tomek/ResearchExamples/image002.jpg

Differences B/W Biotic & Abiotic Processes

• Abiotic catalyst are orders of magnitude faster– Operate at much higher temperatures and pressures– Biotic catalyst can have very high specificity

• Biotic systems have an absolute requirement for water

• Biological systems are commonly self regulating

• Scale of the process– Obviously biotic systems are much larger

Similarities B/W Biotic & Abiotic Processes

• Adhere to natural laws– Will not cause rxn to occur that would not occur

otherwise– Cannot create energy or mass

• Requires chemical rxn

• Effected by temperature and pH– Biological systems mildly effected by pressure

Not that Dissimilar in Function

http://staff.jccc.net/PDECELL/cellresp/glycolysis.gifhttp://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/6/60/RefineryFlow.png