Biological Reaction Engineering

This practical book presents the modeling of dynamic biological engineering processes in a readily comprehensible manner, using the unique combination of simplified fundamental theory and direct hands-on computer simulation. The mathematics is kept to a minimum, and yet the 60 examples illustrate almost every aspect of biological engineering science, with each one described in detail, including the model equations. The programs are written in the modern user-friendly simulation language Berkeley Madonna, which can be run on both Windows PC and Power-Macintosh computers.

Madonna solves models comprising many ordinary differential equations using very simple programming, including arrays. It is so powerful that the model parameters may be defined as 'sliders', which allow the effect of their change on the model behavior to be seen almost immediately. Data may be included for curve fitting, and sensitivity or multiple runs may be performed. The results can be viewed simultaneously on multiple-graph windows or by using overlays. The examples can be varied to fit any real situation, and the suggested exercises provide practical guidance.

The extensive teaching experience of the authors is reflected in this well-balanced presentation, which is suitable for the teacher, student, biochemist or the engineer.

Elmar Heinzle is Senior Professor of Biochemical Engineering at the Saarland University in Saarbrücken, Germany. Having obtained his academic degrees from the Technical University of Graz, Austria, he spent a large fraction of his career at the Chemical Engineering Department of ETH-Zurich, Switzerland, before becoming Chair of Biochemical Engineering at the Saarland University. In 2003 he was Guest Professor at the Biotechnology Institute (University of Minnesota, St. Paul) and in 2004 at the Agricultural Department (University of Kyoto, Kyoto). Professor Heinzle published well over 200 scientific publications in bioreactor design, metabolic engineering and systems biology, mammalian cell culture, on-line analysis and control and design of sustainable processes. In his teaching in Biochemical and Chemical Engineering he is extensively using modeling. He has authored several books in these fields. 

Irving J. Dunn is retired from the ETH-Zurich, where he taught and did research in the area of biochemical engineering for over thirty years, within the Chemical Engineering Dept. His degrees are from the University of Washington and Princeton University.  Dr. Dunn has published widely in his field, ranging from bioreactor design, process control, animal cell culture, and specialized wastewater treatment. His teaching and research has featured the use of modeling and simulation and has resulted in the publication of three textbooks: Biological Reaction Engineering, Dynamics of Environmental Bioprocesses and Chemical Engineering Dynamics. In 1981 he founded the renowned International Modeling and Simulation Courses in Braunwald, Switzerland.

John Ingham is now retired from Chemical Engineering at Bradford University U.K. The first of a long series of courses on the Modeling and Simulation of Dynamical Chemical Engineering Systems was begun there in 1974, sponsored by the Institution of Chemical Engineers and inspired by leave of absence at the ETH Zurich. Research areas include Liquid-Liquid Column Hydrodynamics, Extraction Process Dynamics and Biochemical Engineering; the latter, being developed, during a further leave of absence at the GBF, Braunschweig. He is especially proud of this and the two other VCH-Wiley Modeling and Simulation books.

Jirí E. Prenosil was born 1939 in Prague, Czechoslovakia. Educated in Prague with PhD in Chemical Engineering, he worked in the Czechoslovak Academy of Science and various universities abroad. 1971 he moved to Switzerland with appointment at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zürich. 1984 he was a Visiting Professor at the University of London, Canada. His life interest is in Biochemical Engineering, design and modeling of bioreactors with immobilized biocatalysts. It has resulted in over 100 publications and co-authorship of two other books in this area. He is a co-founder of the renowned International Modeling and Simulation Courses in Braunwald, Switzerland since 1981. 1997 he was granted the Swiss Technology Transfer Award. In 2006, he retired from the ETH.