Misure di concentrazione di biomassa in matric inorganiche mediante calorimetria differenziale a scansione

Experimental measurement of biomass concentration in many complex biotechnological systems, where several organic and inorganic compounds are present, may be uneasy. Problems, for example, may arise in common immobilized biomass systems or other systems with high concentration of inorganic solids. Using as a model system the chemoautograph bacterium Thiobacillus ferrooxidans, grown on the appropriate 9K culture medium, an alternative method for biomass concentration evaluation is suggested, which is based on Differential Scanning Calorimetry of heat evolved during biomass combustion. From the results of the experiments performed one gets that biomass, existing in small concentrations in an inert medium, can be detected with good precision. Moreover, an estimate of the correlation coefficient (measured combustion ΔH to weight of biomass) is obtained by both theory and experimental comparisons with other techniques.