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Reactor scale up for biological conversion of cellulosic biomass to ethanol

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Abstract

The absence of a systematic scale-up approach for biological conversion of cellulosic biomass to commodity products is a significant bottleneck to realizing the potential benefits offered by such conversion. Motivated by this, we undertook to develop a scale-up approach for conversion of waste paper sludge to ethanol. Physical properties of the system were measured and correlations were developed for their dependence upon cellulose conversion. Just-suspension of solid particles was identified as the scale up criterion based on experiments at lab scale. The impeller speed for just solids suspension at large scale was predicted using computational fluid dynamics simulations. The scale-up strategy was validated by analyzing mixing requirements such as solid–liquid mass transfer under the predicted level of agitation at large scale. The scale-up approach enhances the prediction of reactor performance and helps provide guidelines for the analysis and design of large scale bioreactors based on bench scale experimentation.

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Abbreviations

[C]:

Cellulose concentration (g/L)

[Cb*]:

Cellobiose concentration in interface (g/L)

[Cb]:

Cellobiose concentration (g/L)

[CE]:

Cellulose–enzyme complex concentration (g/L)

[I]:

Solids concentration (g/L)

[X]:

Xylan concentration (g/L)

a p :

Particle surface area per volume (m−1)

Cp L :

Liquid heat capacity [J/(kg K)]

D :

Impeller diameter (m)

Da M :

Damkoeher number

ΔT :

Temperature difference between tank inner surface and bulk liquid (°C)

d p :

Particle diameter (m)

ε :

Power per mass on liquid or turbulent kinetic energy dissipation rate (W/kg)

Eth:

Ethanol

ϕ :

Solids loading (g/L)

h i :

Heat transfer coefficient in inner tank surface [W/(m2 K)]

k :

Thermal conductivity [W/(m K)]

k(x) :

Conversion dependent rate constant of cellulose hydrolysis (h−1)

k r :

Reaction constant (s−1)

k t :

Turbulent kinetic energy (m2s−2)

k SL :

Solid–liquid mass transfer coefficient (m/s)

M k :

Mass transfer rate (g/(L s))

M r :

Reaction rate, g/(L s)

μ L :

Liquid viscosity (cp)

N :

Operating impeller speed (s−1)

N js :

Just-suspended speed at large scale (rpm)

N js0 :

Just-suspended speed at small scale (rpm)

P :

Power (W)

P js :

Power for just solids suspension (W)

ρ ave :

Average density for reactor content (g/L)

\( {{\uprho}}_{{{\text{H}}_{ 2} {\text{O}}}} \) :

Water density (g/L)

ρ L :

Liquid density (g/L)

P o :

Power number of impeller, 1.5 for the marine impeller

Pr :

Prandtl number

ρ S :

Solids density (g/L)

Q :

Total heat of production by reaction (J)

r :

Rate of reaction or heat production (g/(L s)) or (J/g)

Re :

Reynolds number

S :

Tank wall surface area (m2)

Sc :

Schmidt number

Sh :

Sherwood number

σ :

Quality of solids suspension as defined in Eq. 3

T :

Large scale tank diameter (m)

T 0 :

Small scale tank diameter (m)

τ B :

Mixing/blend time (s)

t r :

Characteristic reaction time (s)

V :

Tank volume (m3)

VF:

Volume fraction

\( w_{{{\text{H}}_{ 2} {\text{O}}}} \) :

Amount of water added to flask (g)

w S :

Weight of solids sample added to volumetric flask (g)

x :

Conversion

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful for the support provided by funding from grant No. 60NANB1D0064 from the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, 03755, USA

    Xiongjun Shao & Lee Lynd

  2. ANSYS, Inc., Lebanon, NH, 03766, USA

    André Bakker

  3. DEM Solutions, Lebanon, NH, 03766, USA

    Richard LaRoche

  4. Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of California Riverside, Riverside, CA, 92521, USA

    Charles Wyman

Authors
  1. Xiongjun Shao
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  2. Lee Lynd
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  3. André Bakker
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  4. Richard LaRoche
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  5. Charles Wyman
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Correspondence to Lee Lynd.

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Shao, X., Lynd, L., Bakker, A. et al. Reactor scale up for biological conversion of cellulosic biomass to ethanol. Bioprocess Biosyst Eng 33, 485–493 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-009-0357-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-009-0357-2

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