UTILIZATION OF CHEESE WHEY LACTOSE BY KLUYVEROMYCES-FRAGILIS FOR ENERGY AND GROWTH UNDER CONTINUOUS FERMENTATION

A heat balance was performed on a 25 L jacketed continuous stirred tank reactor used for the production of single cell protein from cheese whey using Kluyveromyces fragilis under three levels of retention time (12, 18, and 24 h), two levels of air flow rate (1 and 3 VVM), and three levels of mixing speed (200, 400, and 600 RPM) to determine the heat of reaction and the portions of lactose used for energy and growth as well as to assess the need for the cooling system. The yeast population size, oxygen concentration, and lactose concentration in the reactor as well as the portions of lactose used for energy and growth were all affected by the hydraulic retention time, mixing speed, and air flow rate. About 8-14% of lactose was utilized for energy and 86-92% was utilized for growth. The highest cell number was obtained at the 12 h retention time, 3 VVM air flow rate, and 600 RPM mixing speed. Under these conditions, the lactose removal efficiency was 95.6% and the yeast yield was 0.78 g cell/g lactose removed.