Integrated product formation and recovery in fermentation.

Fermentation processes are hampered by a variety of problems originating from the accumulation of products in the fermenter. Integration of fermentation and a primary product separation step can accelerate the product formation, improve the product yield, and facilitate downstream processing. The advantages of integrated bioprocesses, however, are counteracted by the incompatibility of the subprocesses. Over the past few years, research in this field has been directed towards the development of engineering tools to reduce integration problems, to select a suitable approach, and to predict the feasibility of the integrated process. More fundamental knowledge about metabolic pathways, control mechanisms, and process dynamics is needed in order to optimally design integrated systems.