Question

Hold-up of large volumes of medium for longer periods of time is efficient.

(a) True

(b) False

This question was posed to me in an interview for internship.

I need to ask this question from Sterilisation in section Reactor Engineering of Bioprocess Engineering

Answer 1

The correct answer is:

(b) False

In bioprocess engineering, particularly in the context of sterilization and reactor design, holding large volumes of medium for extended periods is generally not considered efficient. Prolonged hold-up time can lead to several issues, including:

1. Increased Risk of Contamination: The longer the medium is held, the greater the chance of microbial contamination before sterilization is completed.
2. Resource Wastage: Holding large volumes of medium for longer times increases costs, energy consumption, and the potential for degradation of components.
3. Inefficient Sterilization: Extended hold-up times may not be necessary for effective sterilization, especially with modern methods such as continuous sterilization or flash sterilization.

The goal is typically to minimize hold-up time to enhance the efficiency of sterilization processes while ensuring complete sterilization of the medium without excessive time or resource use.