Application of principles of biotechnology to the analysis and design of microbial processes of industrial relevance (ethanol, single cell protein, fermented foods and beverages, amino acids and vitamins, microbial polysaccharides, microbial enzymes, secondary metabolites including antobiotics, recombinant proteins, products of mammalian cell culture, waste treatment processes, microbial leaching and metal recovery from low grade minerals). Emphasis on quantitative approach: mass and heat balance calculations, kinetic and thermodynamic analysis, equipment selection and specification, process modelling and application of optimisation techniques. The economics of microbial processes are considered, as well as a series of case studies on the technical and economic feasibility of modern biotechnology-based processes. Patent and regulatory issues are also reviewed.

Laboratory experiments, tutorials and a small design project complement the lecture program.