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Hydrodynamics and mixing in down flow jet loop bioreactor with a non-Newtonian fluid

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Abstract

Gas holdup and liquid circulation time were measured in a down flow jet loop bioreactor with a non-Newtonian fluid. It was observed that the circulation time decreases with increase in nozzle diameter, draft tube to column diameter ratio and shear thinning of the media. The gas holdup increases with increase in gas and liquid velocities. The optimum draft tube to column diameter ratio was found to be 0.438. Correlations for gas holdup and circulation time involving operational and geometrical variables were presented.

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Abbreviations

A m2 :

cross sectional area of the column

A D m2 :

flow area, A D=π/4(D 2Z −D 2TO )

D m:

column diameter

D E m:

draft tube diameter

D TO m:

outside diameter of air tube

D TFL m:

equivalent flow diameter D TFL=(D 2Z -D 2TO )0.5

D z m:

nozzle diameter

(E/V)L kW · m−3 :

energy dissipation rate per unit volume (E/V) L=(ϱLxADxw 3)/2Vl

Fr :

Froude number, Fr=u sgx(gD)−0.5

g m · s−2 :

gravitational constant

H m:

height of the reactor

H B m:

distance between the lower edge of the draft tube and the impact plate

H T m:

distance between the upper edge of the draft tube and the liquid nozzle

K Pa · sn :

consistency index in power-law model

L E m:

height of the draft tube

n :

flow index in power-law model

Q G m3 · hr−1 :

volumetric gas flow rate

Q L m3 · hr−1 :

volumetric liquid flow rate

Rej :

jet Reynolds number Re j=(D TFLxwlxϱ L)/μeff

t c s:

liquid circulation time

u sg m · s−1 :

superficial gas velocity based on A

V m3 :

two phase volume in the reactor

w l m · s−1 :

linear liquid velocity based on A D

ε :

gas holdup

ϱ kg · m−3 :

mass density

μ Pa · sn :

liquid viscosity

τ N · m−2 :

shear stress

γ s:

shear rate

eff :

effective

G :

gas phase

L :

liquid phase

obs :

observed

pred :

predicted

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engg., Indian Institute of Technology, 600 036, Madras, India

    M. Velan &  T. K. Ramanujam

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  1. M. Velan
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  2. T. K. Ramanujam
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Part of this paper was presented in Asian Bio-Chemical Engineering Conference held at Kyungju, Seoul, South Korea, April 22–25 (1990)

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Velan, M., Ramanujam, T.K. Hydrodynamics and mixing in down flow jet loop bioreactor with a non-Newtonian fluid. Bioprocess Engineering 7, 193–197 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00369545

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