Woju, ChernetChow, AmandaAbdul Rahim, AliahHussan, JagirOliver, MarkLister, CliffSuresh, Vinod2022-12-042022-12-042022-11-04(2022, November 3-4). [Conference item]. IEEE Instrumentation and Measurement Society NZ Chapter Workshop on Sensing, Measurement and Instrumentation for Healthcare, Food, Agriculture, Environment and Security, Hamilton.https://hdl.handle.net/2292/61991Laboratory-based bioreactors help study microbial fermentation in various applications such as livestock nutrition, human digestion, food production, biogas and waste-to-energy sectors. Here we present modifications to a commercially available rumen bioreactor system (ANKOMRF, www.ankom.com/product-catalog/ankom-rf-gas-production-system) to enable real-time measurement of the composition of headspace gas produced during fermentation reactions. The ANKOMRF system records gas pressure and temperature to monitor the progress of fermentation; it also vents headspace gas to maintain the pressure within a user-specified limit. By extending this system to additionally measure gas composition, further information about the fermentation reactions can be recorded and used to characterize the nutritional quality of cattle feed and the effect of interventions such as feed supplementation. Here we report the development of a rumen bioreactor by incorporating a dual non-dispersive infrared (NDIR) carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) gas sensor into the ANKOMRF system as these gases are the principal gases produced by ruminal fermentation. A sensor-housing adaptor was designed and fabricated from acetal to interface between the reaction bottle and the pressure sensor housing. Condensation was observed on the gas sensor surface after an overnight fermentation. This was resolved by incorporating a silica gel desiccant unit into the system upstream of the gas sensor. Fermentation of yeast-sugar mixtures and forage samples in fresh rumen liquor from fistulated cows were carried out over 6 - 24 hours. In both cases, an increase in gas pressure and CO2/CH4 concentrations were recorded. The modified system can thus be used to characterise fermentation reactions in greater detail.Items in ResearchSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated. Previously published items are made available in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher.https://researchspace.auckland.ac.nz/docs/uoa-docs/rights.htmConference Item2022-11-06Copyright: The authorshttp://purl.org/eprint/accessRights/OpenAccess