Constraints and Criteria

Standards:
- The standards for waste sampling and for anaerobic digestion will be accounted for when designing the conversion process.
Time:
- Since the campus produces 10-15 tons of food waste a week the process will need to take a week or less so that there will not be a delay in processing the next weeks waste.
Space:
- Optimal sized bioreactors will be needed for the anaerobic digestion and fermentation steps so that excess space will not be occupied.
Profit Margin:
- Once the process is completed, the amount the glutamic acid is sold for will have to outweigh the costs associated with the process. In order to fulfill this criteria, the return on investment will need to be greater than the minimum attractive rate of return. A hurdle rate of 10% will be required.

Waste Composition:
- The amount of carbon and nitrogen in the waste samples limits the final amount of glutamic acid. For example, samples like meat will contain more nitrogen which will yield more glutamic acid.
Acetic Acid Production:
- Anaerobic digestion will be used to change the food waste into acetic acid. Optimum digestion occurs in approxiately 5 days.
Glutamic Acid Production:
- Fermentation will be used to convert the acetic acid into glutamic acid. The strain of bacteria used will be Corynebacterium glutamicum which is able to use acetic acid as a food source while producing glutamic acid.
Amount of Waste:
- The amount of waste is a constraint because it is the feed source for the process, so it limits the amount of glutamic acid that can be produced.
Corynebacterium glutamicum:
- The time frame for Corynebacterium glutamicum growth will limit how long our fermentation will run. Also, the amount of glutamic acid Corynebacterium glutamicum produces will determine the overall amount of the product that can be sold.