clarify scope of bioreactor

[cmungall]

Current def:

A biomaterial containment unit which is capable of 1) containing a mass of environmental material which hosts an active collection of organisms and 2) maintaining conditions which are conducive to one or more metabolic activities of the organisms it contains.

sources:

database_cross_reference "EcoLexicon:bioreactor"
database_cross_reference "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bioreactor"

Many people will think of a bioreactor as an industrial bioreactor used in chemical engineering:

But the term "bioreactor" is pretty general encompassing

• activated sludge systems https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Activated_sludge
• passive treatment systems https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive_treatment_system

I think the ENVO definition encompasses these but terms like "containment unit" is a bit broad. In fact I think my gut fits the definition of bioreactor, so the definition is likely too broad.

Is a broad "bioreactor" even such a useful term? It might be better to split this into devices, systems, and processes

[pbuttigieg]

Bioreactor is a very useful term, describing standard equipment.

The current definition works, I think. Containment is broad, but it should be.

We can assert it to be a manufactured or constructed entity, to rule out biological entities.