CHE 422

Biochemical Engineering
Fall 2017

Instructor:

Dr. Sultana Ferdous

Office: CEB 209
Phone: 312-413-3777
Email: ferdous@uic.edu

Supplemental Textbooks:
Bioprocess Engineering: Basic Concepts by Michael L Shuler and Fikret Kargi, Prentice Hall, 2nd
edition, Jersey, 2002
Biochemical Engineering by Douglas S Clark and Harvey W Blanch, CRC Press; 1st edition,
1997

Lectures:

Mondays and Wednesdays

1:00 pm - 2:15 pm
Room no. 2CEB 230

Office hours:

MWF 10:00 am -12:00

or by prior appointment (e-mail)

Catalog description:

CHE 422 Biochemical Engineering. 3 or 4 hours.

Enzyme-catalyzed and microbially-mediated processes. Free and immobilized enzymes. Batch

and continuous cell cultures. Transport phenomena in microbial systems and fermentation
processes. Design of biological reactors.

Expected prior knowledge:

Material balances, reactor engineering fundamentals including reactive mass balances
and principles of heterogeneous catalysis, transport phenomena (particularly mass
transfer processes).
Course Website:
The course syllabus, homework assignments, and all handouts will be posted on
the blackboard.
Exams and Final Exam:

There will be three in-class exams, and one final exam. All the exams are closed-book and
closed-notes. You must return your whole exam paper. Otherwise your exam will not be graded.
There will be no makeup exams or final exam. If you are absent from an exam, you will receive
zero credit. It will be dropped as one of your lowest exam grade. Please note that the final
exam is scheduled at 1:00 pm-3:00 pm on Monday, Dec. 11th, 2017.

Distribution of Final Grade:

Category Weight
Attendance and class participation 10%
Exam #1 (Wednesday, September 27th )
Exam #2 (Wednesday, October 18th )
Exam #3 (Monday, November 20th)
Project (Due date: Wednesday, November 29th) and Final 20%
Presentation (November 29th, December 4th and December
6th, 2017 )
Final Exam 20%
All the exams are required for the students. Exams are 50% of the
grade.

Homework Policies:

Homeworks will be posted weekly. The students are encouraged to work through all the problems
so that they can understand the materials and prepare themselves for the exams, but homework
will not be collected or graded. Final answers and compact solutions will be posted in the
blackboard. But detailed written solutions will not be provided. It should be noted that solving the
problems is more important than inferred by their weighting in the overall course grade. It is
unusual that a student performs well in exams without having thoughtful efforts in working the
problems. Homework will be coordinated with lectures.

Topics Covered:

1. Biology basics
Structure of microorganisms and important macromolecules
Cellular function
Cell energetics and metabolism
Enzyme catalysis
2. Bioreactors: suspension and immobilized cultures
Microbial growth models
Batch and continuous bioreactors
Immobilized cell systems and mass transfer effects
3. Bioseparations and Advanced topics
 Separation of insoluble products
a. Centrifugation
b. Filtration
Basic concepts of chromatography
4. Final Presentations November 29th, December 4th and December 6th, 2017.

By the end of the course, you should be able:

Identify structure and function of important biomacromolecules
Identify and distinguish between types of cells
Derive kinetic expressions from proposed enzymatic reaction mechanisms
Determine kinetic parameters from experimental data
Identify and characterize modes of enzyme inhibition
Integrate cell growth models with reactor operating equations
Analyze performance of bioreactors operating in different modes and configurations
Use MATLAB to simulate operation of bioreactors. Identify optimal operating conditions
and limits on operating parameters.
Apply bioprocess engineering concepts in a critical reading of the biochemical engineering
literature

Academic Integrity:
Students should be become familiar with UICs guidelines on academic integrity
(http://www.uic.edu/ucat/catalog/GR.shtml#ga). Any occurrences of academic dishonesty will be
handled according to UIC guidelines.