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Exp 6

Experiment 6 IIT Delhi

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Shivam Kumar
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4 views

Exp 6

Experiment 6 IIT Delhi

Uploaded by

Shivam Kumar
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Department of Biochemical Engineering and Biotechnology

Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi-110016


BEL-850 (Advanced Biochemical Engineering Laboratory)

Experiment 6

OBJECTIVE:
The goal is to estimate the volumetric oxygen transfer coefficient, K L a in a fermenter by the
dynamic gassing out technique in a culture containing cells.

INTRODUCTION:
In aerobic fermentation processes, the oxygen demand is met by sparging air, which comes
out from sparger as air bubbles in the liquid bulk. The bubbles are then broken down to tiny
air bubbles by the action of rotating impellers. This results in increased interfacial area per
unit volume for oxygen transfer from the air bubbles to the liquid bulk. In many aerobic
fermentation processes, productivity is limited by availability of dissolved oxygen. Therefore,
it becomes important to estimate K L a in order to determine oxygen transfer capabilities of
the fermentor under permissible aeration and agitation conditions.

MATERIALS:
• Bioreactor with agitation and aeration system
• Dissolved oxygen probe
• Nitrogen cylinder and air supply
• Stop watch

THEORY
For an actively growing batch culture in a bioreactor, the mass balance for dissolved oxygen
can be written as :
dc o
= K L a (co* − co ) − ro x (1)
dt
where
K L a = volumetric oxygen transfer coefficient (h-1)
co = dissolved oxygen concentration at any time t, (mg O2/L)
co* = saturation level of dissolved oxygen in culture medium in the fermentor, (mg O2/L)
ro = specific oxygen uptake rate (mg O2 gdw-1 h-1)
x = cell mass concentration (g L-1)

In this method, the air is first turned off in an actively growing cell culture, which causes the
DO to drop. This decline occurs in accordance with the equation
dc o
= − ro x (2)
dt
obtained from (1) by letting the oxygen transfer rate be zero. Since the air supply is resumed
before the DO falls to sub-critical levels, both ro and x remain approximately constant, and
co declines linearly.
It follows that the slope of the co vs. t curve yields ro x , the volumetric oxygen uptake rate.
Upon resumption of air, the accumulation rate of DO in the broth follows equation (1).
Therefore, rearranging equation (1) we get,
1 dc o
co = ( )( + ro x) + co* (3)
K L a dt
which implies that K l a can be evaluated from the slope of the co vs. dc o / dt + ro x plot.

REFERENCES:

1. Bandyopadhyay, B. and Humphrey, A. E. (1967), Dynamic measurement of the volumetric


oxygen transfer coefficient in fermentation systems. Biotechnol. Bioeng., 4: 533-544, 1967.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/bit.260090408.

2. Heineken, F. G. (1971), Oxygen mass transfer and oxygen respiration rate measurements
utilizing fast response oxygen electrodes. Biotechnol. Bioeng., 13: 599–618.
doi:10.1002/bit.260130502

Heinkin, F. G. (1970), On the use of fast-response dissolved oxygen probes for oxygen
transfer studies. Biotechnol. Bioeng., 12: 145–154. doi:10.1002/bit.260120113

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