Patent ID: 8647862

Claim:
A method to improve product yield from a biotechnical microbial process said method comprising the steps of: a) adding a culture medium that is a process fluid to a production fermentor, said production fermentor being divided into sections by inclined partitions, in which said process fluid moves obliquely upwards and obliquely downwards; b) inoculating a microbial culture in said process fluid into said production fermentor; c) moving said process fluid in a predetermined direction; d) feeding a gas mixture into said process fluid; e) measuring data from a portion of said process fluid moving through said sections of said production fermentor, said data being obtained by at least one sensor placed in at least one of said sections of said production fermentor; wherein said gas mixture is anaerobic and is determined on the basis of said data; and f) isolating the product made in at least step (e), wherein said oblique upward and downward movements of said process fluid on said partitions improve said product yield.