PROCESSO PER L OTTENIMENTO MICROBICO DI PROTEINE

1499118 Hydrocarbon fermentation and recovery process PETROLCHEMISCHES KOMBINAT SCHWEDT VEB 22 Oct 1975 [23 Oct 1974] 43382/75 Heading C6F The cultivation of a hydrocarbon-utilizing micro-organism in a culture medium containing a hydrocarbon substrate and the separation of the cells produced from the culture medium as a proteinaceous product are carried out in the presence of a surfactant product of ethylene oxide and propylene oxide of average molecular weight of 1750 to 2250, no other surfactant being introduced. The specified surfactant is employed in the fermentation in a concentration of from 0.01 to 0.15 wt. per cent mol in the separation in a concentration of from 0.01 to 0.8 wt. per cent. Unused surfactant may be recycled to the fermentation in the aqueous or oleaginous phases of the separation. Alternatively, the surfactant may be continuously fed to the fermentation at a concentration of from 0.5 to 1.5 wt. per cent without any recycling or other adjustment of the concentration. The fermentation product is heated up to 30-90‹C before effecting the separation. The Examples relate to the cultivation of Candida guilliermondii on a substrate of petroleum distillate and the recovery from the fermentation of the biomass produced.