Special Issue "Advances in Bioseparation Engineering"

Guest Editor
Prof. Dr. Kostas A. Matis
Laboratory of General and Inorganic Chemical Technology, Department of Chemistry, Aristotle University, GR-541 24 Thessaloniki, Greece
Website: http://users.auth.gr/kamatis/
E-Mail: kamatis@chem.auth.gr
Phone: +30 2310 997743
Fax: +30 2310 997836
Interests: separation science and technology (flotation); wastewater treatment; environmental biotechnology; inorganic materials; mineral processing

Guest Editor
Dr. George Z. Kyzas
Laboratory of General & Inorganic Chemical Technology, Department of Chemistry, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, GR-541 24 Thessaloniki, Greece
Website: http://kyzas.wordpress.com
E-Mail: georgekyzas@gmail.com
Phone: +30 6947 994624
Interests: removal of pollutants from aqueous waste waters; synthesis of adsorbents; characterization of materials; adsorption and transportation phenomena

Dear Colleagues,

Bioprocesses are known to treat raw materials and thereby generate useful products [1]. The individual operations, or even steps within a process which change or separate components, are called unit operations. For instance, in a typical fermentation process, raw materials are altered significantly by reactions occurring in the reactor. Nevertheless, before and after fermentation, physical changes are carried out that are important in order to prepare materials/substrates for the reaction, and also to extract and purify the desired product(s) from the culture broth.

The concept of unit operations embodies many different methods of separating mixtures and hence, represents a major advance in chemical technology. Over time, however, those and subsequent concepts have evolved into a unified field of separation processes; certainly, there are several major gains in gaining insight into the capability and efficiency from viewing separation processes as a unified field [2]. In this regard, sustainability in this field and its significance for the chemical and process industry has been recently examined [3]. We would be very pleased to receive your valuable contributions in this field.

References
1.     Doran, P.M. Bioprocess Engineering Principles; Academic Press: Sydney, Australia, 1998.
2.     King, C.J. From unit operations to separation processes. Sep. Purif. Methods 2000, 29, 233.
3.     Peleka, E.N.; Matis, K.A. Water separation processes and sustainability. Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2011, 50, 421.

Prof. Dr. Kostas A. Matis
Dr. George Z. Kyzas
Guest Editors

Submission

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. Papers will be published continuously (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are refereed through a peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Processes is an international peer-reviewed Open Access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. For the first couple of issues the Article Processing Charge (APC) will be waived for well-prepared manuscripts. English correction and/or formatting fees of 250 CHF (Swiss Francs) will be charged in certain cases for those articles accepted for publication that require extensive additional formatting and/or English corrections.

• bioprocesses
• cell harvesting
• recovery of biomolecules
• membrane-based separations
• purification of water
• adsorption
• extraction
• process development

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	p. 795-866 Open Access Review Review: Fouling Issues in Membrane Bioreactors (MBRs) for Wastewater Treatment: Major Mechanisms, Prevention and Control Strategies by Petros K. Gkotsis, Dimitra Ch. Banti, Efrosini N. Peleka, Anastasios I. Zouboulis and Petros E. Samaras Processes 2014, 2(4), 795-866; doi:10.3390/pr2040795 Received: 30 May 2014 / Revised: 1 September 2014 / Accepted: 12 September 2014 / Published: 20 October 2014 Show/Hide Abstract | PDF Full-text (11453 KB) | HTML Full-text | XML Full-text Abstract: Membrane fouling is one of the most important considerations in the design and operation of membrane systems as it affects pretreatment needs, cleaning requirements, operating conditions, cost and performance. Given that membrane fouling represents the main limitation to membrane process operation, it is unsurprising that the majority of membrane material and process research and development conducted is dedicated to its characterization and amelioration. This work presents the fundamentals of fouling issues in membrane separations, with specific regard to membrane fouling in Membrane Bioreactors (MBRs) and the most frequently applied preventive-control strategies. Feed pretreatment, physical and chemical cleaning protocols, optimal operation of MBR process and membrane surface modification are presented and discussed in detail. Membrane fouling is the major obstacle to the widespread application of the MBR technology and, therefore, fouling preventive-control strategies is a hot issue that strongly concerns not only the scientific community, but industry as well. (This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Bioseparation Engineering)
	p. 625-638 Open Access Article: Light-Induced Production of An Antibody Fragment and Malaria Vaccine Antigen from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii by Neera Munjal, Andrea Juliana Garzon-Sanabria, Katelyn Wilson Quinones, James Gregory and Zivko L. Nikolov Processes 2014, 2(3), 625-638; doi:10.3390/pr2030625 Received: 31 May 2014 / Revised: 19 July 2014 / Accepted: 21 July 2014 / Published: 7 August 2014 Show/Hide Abstract | PDF Full-text (683 KB) | HTML Full-text | XML Full-text Abstract: The eukaryotic green alga, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, is a unique expression platform that can efficiently express complex therapeutic proteins. However, demonstrating that therapeutic molecules can be produced in quantifiable levels is essential to establish the potential of the C. reinhardtii expression system. Thus, the objective of this investigation was to determine the process conditions that could maximize C. reinhardtii biomass accumulation and induced-production of the two recombinant proteins, a single chain fragment antibody molecule (αCD22 scFv) and malaria vaccine antigen (Pfs25), produced in the chloroplast of C. reinhardtii. To achieve a higher production of recombinant proteins, cultivation variables of C. reinhardtii, such as mixing, light-induction time and intensity, nutrient depletion and culture age, were investigated and optimized. The optimal light-induction time was 24 h at a light intensity of 300 μmol m−2 s−1. Replacement of the culture media in the late exponential growth with fresh media was beneficial to the accumulation of recombinant proteins. Optimization led to increases in the accumulation of recombinant proteins by six-fold and the recombinant protein fraction in the extracted soluble protein by two-fold. (This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Bioseparation Engineering)
	p. 419-440 Open Access Review Review: New Biosorbent Materials: Selectivity and Bioengineering Insights by George Z. Kyzas, Jie Fu and Kostas A. Matis Processes 2014, 2(2), 419-440; doi:10.3390/pr2020419 Received: 12 February 2014 / Revised: 18 April 2014 / Accepted: 12 May 2014 / Published: 27 May 2014 Show/Hide Abstract | Cited by 2 | PDF Full-text (1133 KB) | HTML Full-text | XML Full-text Abstract: Many researchers have studied the biosorption of different pollutants. However, a quite limited number of works focus on selectivity, which may be characterized as specific property for each biosorbent. Two main criteria need to be adopted for the selection and synthesis of modern biosorbents, such as their rebinding capacity and selectivity for only one target, molecule, ion, etc. Selective biosorption could be achieved using in synthesis an innovative technique termed molecular imprinting; the idea applied through specific polymers (Molecular Imprinted Polymers (MIPs)) was used in many fields, mainly analytical. In the present work, also isotherm and kinetic models were reviewed highlighting some crucial parameters, which possibly affect selectivity. A critical analysis of the biosorption insights for biosorbents, mostly selective, describes their characteristics, advantages and limitations, and discusses various bioengineering mechanisms involved. (This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Bioseparation Engineering)
	p. 293-310 Open Access Review Review: Flotation of Biological Materials by George Z. Kyzas and Kostas A. Matis Processes 2014, 2(1), 293-310; doi:10.3390/pr2010293 Received: 30 December 2013 / Revised: 10 February 2014 / Accepted: 11 February 2014 / Published: 12 March 2014 Show/Hide Abstract | PDF Full-text (759 KB) | HTML Full-text | XML Full-text Abstract: Flotation constitutes a gravity separation process, which originated from the minerals processing field. However, it has, nowadays, found several other applications, as for example in the wastewater treatment field. Concerning the necessary bubble generation method, typically dispersed-air or dissolved-air flotation was mainly used. Various types of biological materials were tested and floated efficiently, such as bacteria, fungi, yeasts, activated sludge, grape stalks, etc. Innovative processes have been studied in our Laboratory, particularly for metal ions removal, involving the initial abstraction of heavy metal ions onto a sorbent (including a biosorbent): in the first, the application of a flotation stage followed for the efficient downstream separation of metal-laden particles. The ability of microorganisms to remove metal ions from dilute aqueous solutions (as most wastewaters are) is a well-known property. The second separation process, also applied effectively, was a new hybrid cell of microfiltration combined with flotation. Sustainability in this field and its significance for the chemical and process industry is commented. (This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Bioseparation Engineering)
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Last update: 30 October 2014