(Biochemical Engineering)

Agitation and Aeration

Course outline
9.1. Introduction
9.2. Basic Mass-Transfer Concepts
9.3. Correlation for Mass-Transfer Coefficient
9.4. Measurement of Interfacial Area
9.5. Correlations for a and D32
9.6. Gas Hold-Up
9.7. Power Consumption
9.8. Determination of Oxygen-Absorption Rate
9.9. Correlation for kLa
9.10. Scale-Up
9.11. Shear-Sensitive Mixing

Typical Bioprocessing
Stock Culture

Raw Materials

Shake Flasks

Medium Formulation

Seed
Fermenter

Sterilization
Fermenter

Air
Recovery
Purification

Products

Aeration and Agitation

Important factor in a fermenters
Provision for adequate mixing of its contents

Mixing in fermentation
to disperse the air bubbles
to suspend the cells
to enhance heat and mass transfer in
the medium
All relate to Gas-liquid mass transfer
4

Definition of Fermentation
Early

The production of alcohol and lactic acids

General
Anaerobic microbial conversion processes
Industrial
All microbial conversion processes
including aerobic cultivations.
5

Introduction

Aeration
Aeration

refers to the process of introducing air

to increase oxygen concentration in liquids
Aeration may be performed by bubbling air
through the liquid, spraying the liquid into the
air or agitation of the liquid to increase surface
absorption
Gas-liquid mass transfer in bioreactors
6
http://www.foodprocessing-technology.com/glossary/aeration.html

Introduction

Background
aerobic fermentation
the primary method of product formation

The

very few anaerobic fermentation (lactic acid bacteria)

oxygen to aerobic cells

a significant challenge
The problem oxygen is poorly soluble in water
The solubility of oxygen in pure water is
8 mg/L at 4oC (sucrose is soluble to 600 g/L)
The solubility of oxygen decreases as with
increasing temperature and concentration of solutes
in the solution
Supplying

Introduction

Background
The

factors affect oxygen transfer

How fermentation systems can be designed
to maximize dissolved oxygen concentration in
bioreactors
The supply of oxygen
the rate limiting step in an aerobic fermentation

Satisfy oxygen demands

constitute a large proportion of the operating and capital
cost of a industrial scale fermentation system
8

Introduction

Gas exchange and mass transfer

(Crueger and Crueger, 1990)
The

most critical factors in the operation of a

large scale fermenter is the provision of adequate
gas exchange.
Oxygen is the most important gaseous substrate
for microbial metabolism
Carbon dioxide is the most important gaseous
metabolic product.
When oxygen is required as a microbial substrate,
it is frequently a limiting factor in fermentation.
9

Introduction

Gas exchange and mass transfer

(Crueger and Crueger, 1990)
Because

of its low solubility, only 0.3 mM 02,

equivalent to 9 ppm, dissolves in one liter of
water at 20 in an air/water mixture

Due

to the influence of the culture ingredients, the

maximal oxygen content is actually lower than it
would be in pure water.

The

solubility of gases follows Henry's Law in the

gas pressure range over which fermenters are
operated.
10

Henry's Law
Describes

the solubility of O2 in nutrient

solution in relation to the O2 partial pressure in
Po
the gas phase
C*

C*

is the oxygen saturation concentration of

the nutrient solution, Po is the partial pressure
of the gas in the gas phase and H is Henry's
constant, which is specific for the gas and the
liquid phase

Aeration

with air 9 mg O2/L dissolves in

water, with pure oxygen 43 mg O2/L.

11

Oxygen Path
From A Bubble To An Immobilized Cell System

12

Oxygen Path
From A Bubble To An Immobilized Cell System

13

The oxygen transfer process

Step 1 - Diffusion through the bubble to the gas-liquid
interface
Step 2 - Diffusion across the gas-liquid interface
Step 3 - Diffusion through the bubble boundary layer
Step 4 - Movement through the bulk liquid by forced
convection and diffusion
Step 5-9: Movement through the floc
Step 5 - movement through the boundary layer surrounding the
microbial slime
Step 6 - entry into the slime
Step 7 - movement through the slime
Step 8 - movement across the cell membrane
Step 9 - reaction
14

The oxygen transfer process

Step 1
Diffusion through the bubble to the gas-liquid
interface
Gas molecules move quickly
they are evenly distributed throughout the
bubble.
O2

15

The oxygen transfer process

Step 2 - Diffusion across the gas-liquid interface

This step will be very rapid if the concentration of
oxygen in the bubble high. High oxygen concentrations
in the bubble (as measured in terms of partial pressure)
will push the oxygen molecules across the interface, into
the boundary layer.
If the medium is rich in CO2 , then the carbon dioxide will
be pushed into the bubble.
The bubble contains a low concentration of oxygen,
then the rate of oxygen transfer
out of the bubble will be slow
O
or even zero
2

CO2

16

The oxygen transfer process

Step 3- Diffusion through the bubble boundary layer
The movement of solutes through the boundary layer is
slow. Solutes move through the liquid by diffusion.
The movement of the molecule will be driven by the
concentration gradient across the boundary layer.
Factors affect the rate of diffusion of oxygen through the
boundary layer, including :
temperature
concentration of oxygen in the bulk liquid
saturation concentration of oxygen in the liquid
concentration of oxygen in the bubble
size of the molecule and
viscosity of the medium

17

The oxygen transfer process

Step 4 Movement through the bulk liquid by forced
convection and diffusion
The rate of movement of an oxygen molecule through the
bulk liquid is dependent on
the degree of mixing (relative to the volume of the
reactor)
viscosity of the medium
O2

18

The oxygen transfer process

Step 5-9: Movement through the floc
complete the journey of the oxygen molecule
Step 5 - movement through the boundary layer
surrounding the microbial slime.
Step 6 - entry into the slime
Step 7 - movement through the slime
Step 8 - movement across the cell membrane
Step 9 - reaction
Steps 5 and 7 are slow processes.

19

The oxygen transfer process

If only
suspended cells are involved
the level of mixing in the bulk liquid is
sufficiently high
Then
the rate limiting step in the oxygen transfer
process is
the movement of the oxygen molecules
through the bubble boundary layer. (Step 3)
20

The oxygen transfer process

Step 3
The interphase oxygen transfer equation

N A k L a (C * C L ) OTR
NA = Volume-dependent mass transfer(mMO2/Lh)
kL = Transfer coefficient at the phase boundary
a = Specific exchange surface
kLa = Volumetric oxygen transfer coefficient (h-1)
C* = Saturation value of the dissolved gas in the phase boundary
CL = Concentration of the dissolved gas (mM/L)
21
OTR = O2 Transfer Rate (mM O2/Lh)

The oxygen transfer process

The transfer of mass
Ficks Law of diffusion

m
dC A
J A DAB
A
dz
mass / time
mass / volume
DAB [
]
Area
length

(length) 2
DAB [
]
time
D the diffusivity (the movement of mass)
A B

22

Molecular Diffusion in Liquids

When

the concentration of a component

varies from one point to another

the

component has a tendency to flow in the

direction that will reduce the local
differences in concentration

23

Molecular Diffusion in Liquids

( CA )

24

Diffusivity
The

kinetic theory of liquids is much less advanced

than that of gases
The correlation for diffusivities in liquids is not as
reliable as that for gases
The Wilke-Chang correlation (for dilute solutions
of nonelectrolytes)
(9.4)
25

Diffusivity
Othmer

and Thakar correlation (the solvent is

water)
(9.5)

Example 9.1 Estimate the diffusivity for oxygen in

water at 25C. Compare the predictions from the
Wilke-Chang and Othmer-Thakar correlations with the
experimental value of 2.5109 m2/s (Perry and Chilton,
p. 3-225, 1973). Convert the experimental value to that
corresponding to a temperature of 40C.
26

Mass-Transfer Coefficient (kL & kG)

where
CS is the dissolved concentration of the solute in
the bulk liquid
k is the mass transfer coefficient for the solute
through the boundary layer
A is the total interfacial area and
Cs* is the concentration of the solute in the
boundary layer.
27

Figure 9.3 Concentration profile near a gas-liquid interface and an

equilibrium curve.
28

Mass-Transfer Coefficient (kL & kG)

Since

the amount of solute transferred from the gas

phase to the interface must equal that from the
interface to the liquid phase,
NG =NL
(9.8)

Substitution

of Eq. (9.6) and Eq. (9.7) into Eq. (9.8)

gives

29

Mass-Transfer Coefficient (kL & kG)

It

is hard to determine the mass-transfer

coefficient
Because the interfacial concentrations, CLi or
CGi cannot be measure
To

define the overall mass-transfer coefficient

as follows :

30

Figure 9.4 The equilibrium curve explaining the meaning of

G C * andGL *
31

Mass-Transfer Coefficient (kL & kG)

For

sparingly soluble gases, the slope of the

equilibrium curve is very steep
M is much greater than 1 and from Eq. (9.14)
KL kL
(9.15)
Similarly,

for the gas-phase mass-transfer

coefficient,
KG kG
(9.16)
32

Mechanism of Mass Transfer

The

two-film theory ( )

The

penetration theory ( )

surface renewal theory ( )

Read textbook p. 9-8 ~ 9-9
The

All

these theories require knowledge of one

unknown parameter, the effective film thickness Zf,
the exposure time te, or the fractional rate of surface
renewal s. Little is known about these properties, so
as theories, all three are incomplete.
33

Correlation for Mass-Transfer

Coefficient
Mass-transfer coefficient is a function of physical
properties and vessel geometry
Because of the complexity of hydrodynamics in
multiphase
mixing, it is difficult, if not impossible, to derive a
useful correlation based on a purely theoretical basis
It is common to obtain an empirical correlation for
the mass-transfer coefficient by fitting experimental
data. The correlations are usually expressed by
dimensionless groups since they are dimensionally
consistent and also useful for scale-up processes.

34

Sauter-mean diameter D32

D32

can be calculated from measured drop-size

distribution from the following relationship

Example 9.3 Determine appropriate dimensionless

parameters that can relate the mass transfer
coefficient by applying the Buckingham-Pi
35
theorem.

Dimensionless Number for Mass Transfer

Correlations
k L D32
total mass transfer
N Sh =
=
diffusive mass transfer
DAB

(9.21)

momentum diffusivity c / c
N Sc =
=
mass diffusivity
DAB

(9.22)

gravitation force D32 c g

N Gr =
=
2
viscous force
c

(9.23)

36

Correlations for Mass Transfer Coefficients

(Calderbank & Moo-Young, 1961)

For small bubbles (D < 2.5 mm)

1/ 3

N Sh 0.31N Sc N Gr

1/ 3

(9.26)

For large bubbles (D > 2.5 mm)

N Sh = 2.0 + 0.31N

1/ 3
Sc

N Gr

1/ 3

(9.28)

37

Measurement of Interfacial Area

38

Correlations for interfacial area

Gas Sparging with No Mechanical Agitation
aDC

1 g D L

3

2
C

0.5

gD

3
C
2
L

0.1

H 1.13

Gas Sparging with Mechanical Agitation

Pm v c Vs
1.44
V
0.6

t
0.4

a0

0.2

1/ 2

39

Correlations for gas hold-up

Gas Sparging with No Mechanical Agitation
H
(1 H ) 4

1/8

g D c
0.20

2
C

gD

3
C
2
c

1/12

Vs
gDC

Gas Sparging with Mechanical Agitation

Vs H
H

V
t

1/2

Pm v c
+(2.16 10 )

0.6

0.4

0.2

Vs
V
t

1/ 2

40