Team:Imperial/Mass Production and Processing

From 2014.igem.org

Revision as of 03:00, 18 October 2014 by Xen sm (Talk | contribs)

Imperial iGEM 2014

Mass Production and Processing

Introduction


Bacterial cellulose (BC) exhibits a multitude of different properties depending on the processing, growth conditions, functionalisation and strain used (Bismarck 2013) for production of the material. Acquiring large quantities of cellulose produced would allow testing of a broad variety of cellulose processing methods and functionalisation steps.

By mass producing cellulose this enables a better understanding of what material properties can be realistically produced during the short duration of iGEM. More importantly, it improves the likelihood of finding suitable processing candidates for the project’s aim of making a customisable ultrafiltration membrane, at the same time as allowing room for creativity and exploration of the remarkable properties of cellulose.

Component Quantity Source Cost breakdown (£) Cost (£)
Water 4l London South West Water 4 liters of £5.5195 per m3 0.02
400 g granulated sugar 400g Tesco's 79p per 1 kg 0.32
Clipper green tea tea bags 4 Clipper tea 300 teabags for £9.99 0.13
Aspall organic cider vinegar 2 Aspall Suffolk 400 ml of a £2.25 500 ml bottle 1.80
Total 2.27
Product
Component Quantity Source Price breakdown (£) Price per g (£)
Bacterial cellulose yield 60 cm by 40 cm = 0.24 m2 production from single tray 110 g/m2 x 0.24 m2 = 26.4g 0.09
Table 1: Cost analysis for production of bacterial cellulose

References