Bench‐scale calorimetry – application in biotechnology

Two calorimetric techniques are described allowing us to monitor and control microbial processes at relatively high cell densities: dynamic and continuous calorimetry. These techniques have been applied to study microbial systems, e.g. the dependence of thermodynamic efficiency and heat yield on specific growth rate, the heat yield of mesophilic and thermophilic microorganisms, the oxy‐caloric coefficient during aerobic microbial growth, as well as the energetics of the yeast‐cell cycle. Such studies are of importance for optimizing biotechnical processes.