Thermoelectric heat exchange and growth regulation in a continuous yeast culture

Abstract

We have designed a thermoelectric heat exchanger (TEHE) for microbial fermentations that is able to produce electric power from a microbial continuous culture using the intrinsic heat generated by microbial growth. While the TEHE was connected, the system proved able to stably self-maintain both the temperature and the optical density of the culture. This paves the way toward a more sustainable operation of microbial fermentations, in which energy could be saved by converting part of the metabolic heat into usable electric power.

Chip-Scale Solar-Thermal-Electrical Power Generation

“…35 Such technology can be used to monitor local thermal variations at micro-nano scales, such as bioactivity in yeast cultures. 58 On the other hand, if the number of integrated TE modules is high enough, the output electrical power can be significantly increased. 59 To effectively convert the heat released from MOST systems to electrical power, a large array integrated MEMS-TEG based on Bi 2 Te 3 (n type) and Sb 2 Te 3 (p type) TE modules was fabricated.…”