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Effects of hydrocarbon additions on gas-liquid mass transfer coefficients in biphasic bioreactors

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Abstract

The effects of aliphatic hydrocarbons (n-hexadecane andn-dodecane) on the volumetric oxygen mass transfer coefficient (k L a) were studied in flat alveolar airlift reactor and continuous stirred tank reactors (CSTRs). In the flat alveolar airlift reactor, high aeration rates (>2 vvm) were required in order to obtain efficient organic-aqueous phase dispersion and reliablek L a measurements. Addition of 1% (v/v)n-hexadecane orn-dodecane increased thek l a 1.55-and 1.33-fold, respectively, compared to the control (superficial velocity: 25.8×10−3 m/s, sparger orifice diameter: 0.5 mm). Analysis of the gas-liquid interfacial areaa and the liquid film mass transfer coefficientk L suggests that the observedk L a increase was a function of the media's liquid film mass transfer. Addition of 1% (v/v)n-hexadecane orn-dodecane to analogous setups using CSTRs led to ak L a increase by a factor of 1.68 and 1.36, respectively (superficial velocity: 2.1×10−3 m/s, stirring rate: 250 rpm). These results propose that low-concentration addition of oxygen-vectors to aerobic microbial cultures has additional benefit relative to incubation in purely aqueous media.

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Abbreviations

a :

specific interfacial area (1/m)

C * :

oxygen saturation concentration of the aqueous phase (g/L)

C :

dissolved oxygen concentration of the aqueous phase (g/L)

d 32 :

Sauter mean bubble diameter (m)

d eqi :

diameter of the volume-equivalent sphere (m)

D :

impeller diameter (m)

E :

bubble major axis in two-dimensional projection (m)

e :

bubble minor axis in two-dimensional projection (m)

k L :

liquid film mass transfer coefficient (m/h)

(k l)v :

k L in the presence of an oxygen-vector (organic phase) (m/h)

(k L)w :

k L in the absence of an oxygen-vector (aqueous phase) (m/h)

k L a :

volumetric mass transfer coefficient (1/h)

(k L a)v :

k L a in the presence of an oxygen-vector (organic phase) (1/h)

(k L a)w :

k L a in the absence of an oxygen-vector (aqueous phase) (1/h)

N :

impeller speed (1/s)

P :

power (W)

t :

time (h)

V :

liquid volume (m3)

δ:

sparger orifice diameter (mm)

ε:

gas hold up (dimensionless)

Vs :

superficial gas velocity (m/s)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto Nacional de Engenharia, Tecnologia e Inovação, Departamento de Biotecnologia, Unidade de Bioengenharia e Bioprocessos, Estrada do Paço do Lumiar, 22, 1649-038, Lisboa, Portugal

    Teresa Lopes da Silva, Vitor Calado, Nadia Silva & Alberto Reis

  2. Instituto Nacional de Engenharia, Tecnologia e Inovação, Departamento de Energias Renováveis, Unidade de Biomassa, Estrada do Paço do Lumiar, 22, 1649-038, Lisboa, Portugal

    Rui L. Mendes

  3. Instituto Superior Técnico, Departamento de Engenharia Química e Biológica, Centro de Engenharia Biológica e Química, 1049-001, Lisboa, Portugal

    Sebastião S. Alves & Jorge M. T. Vasconcelos

Authors
  1. Teresa Lopes da Silva
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  2. Vitor Calado
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  3. Nadia Silva
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  4. Rui L. Mendes
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  5. Sebastião S. Alves
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  6. Jorge M. T. Vasconcelos
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  7. Alberto Reis
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Correspondence to Alberto Reis.

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da Silva, T.L., Calado, V., Silva, N. et al. Effects of hydrocarbon additions on gas-liquid mass transfer coefficients in biphasic bioreactors. Biotechnol. Bioprocess Eng. 11, 245–250 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02932038

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02932038

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