University of Mindanao, Davao City

Engineering Department

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement in

Biochemical Engineering (ChE 544)

Gas-Liquid Mass Transfer in Cellular Systems

Submitted by:
Mar Benedec B. Picar

Submitted to:
Engr. Arjan C. Lingaya

July 12, 2017

Mass Transfer

Mass is transferred from one place to another under the influence of a

concentration difference or concentration gradient in the system. For example, when dye

is dropped into a cup of water, mass-transfer processes are responsible for the movement

of dye molecules through the water until equilibrium is established and the concentration

is uniform.

Gas-Liquid Mass Transfer in Cellular Systems

Gas-liquid mass transfer is extremely important in bioprocessing because many

processes are aerobic, oxygen must first be transferred from gas bulk through a series of

steps onto the surfaces of cells before it can be utilized. The solubility of oxygen within

broth is very poor. Therefore, the enhancement of gas-liquid mass transfer during aerobic

cultures and fermentations is always put into priority.

A continuous transfer of oxygen from the gas phase to the liquid phase is decisive

for maintaining the oxidative metabolism of the cells. A few minutes without aeration of

the medium has for example a serious impact on the ability of a culture of the mold

Penicillium chrysogenum to produce the desired penicillin, whereas facultatively aerobic

organisms, such as the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae or the bacterium Escherichia coli,

will drastically change their product formation when deprived of oxygen.

 Figure 1. Overview of steps in the overall mass transfer of oxygen from a gas

bubble to the reaction site inside the individual cells.

Steps:

1. Diffusion of oxygen from the bulk gas to the gas liquid interface.

2. Transport across the gas liquid interface.

3. Diffusion of oxygen through a relatively stagnant liquid region adjacent to the

gas bubble.

4. Transport of oxygen through the well-mixed liquid to a relatively unmixed

region surrounding the cells.

5. Diffusion through the stagnant region surrounding the cells.

6. Transport from the liquid to the pellet cell aggregate etc.

7. Diffusive transport of oxygen into the pellet etc.

8. Transport through the cell envelope.

9. Transport from the cell envelope to the intracellular reaction site e.g. the

mitochondria.
Gas-Liquid Mass Transfer Equations:

Figure 2. Concentration profiles in gas and liquid films for the transfer of the

gaseous compound A into the liquid phase. The composition of the gas bulk and of the

bulk liquid are assumed to be constant.

Described as the product of the concentration difference across the film layer, i.e.,

a linear driving force, and a mass transfer coefficient, k. The flux across the gas film is

given by

𝐽𝐴 𝑔 = 𝑘𝑔 (𝑝𝐴 − 𝑝𝐴𝑖 ) (1)

Where 𝑝𝐴 is the partial pressure of compound A in the gas bubble. Index i refers

to the concentration at the gas-liquid interface. Similarly, for the flux across the liquid

film

𝐽𝐴 𝑙 = 𝑘𝑙 (𝑐𝐴𝑖 − 𝑐𝐴 ) (2)
 In the dilute aqueous solutions normally used as fermentation media, the

concentrations on each side of the gas-liquid interface can be related to each other by

Henry’s law:

𝑝𝐴,𝑖 = 𝐻𝐴 𝐶𝐴 𝑖 (3)

Where 𝐻𝐴 is Henry’s constant for compound A (unit: atm L mole-1 ). Table 10.1

lists the values of Henry’s constant for a few components.

Since the interfacial concentrations are not directly measurable, we specify the

overall flux of the considered component from the gas bubble to the liquid phase as an

overall mass transfer coefficient multiplied by the driving force in the liquid phase, i.e.,

𝑱 𝑨 = 𝑲 𝒍 (𝒄∗ 𝑨 − 𝒄𝑨 ) (4)

Where 𝑐 ∗𝐴 is the saturation concentration in the bulk liquid corresponding to the

bulk gas phase:

𝒑𝑨
𝒄∗ 𝑨 = (5)
𝑯𝑨

At steady state, 𝐽 𝐴 = 𝐽𝐴 𝑔 = 𝐽𝐴 𝑙 and by inserting equations (3) and (5) in

equation (1) , we find

1 1 1
= + (6)
𝐾𝑙 𝐻 𝐴𝑘 𝑔 𝑘𝑙
 𝑘 𝑔 is typically larger than 𝑘 𝑙 for gases with large values of 𝐻 𝐴 such as oxygen

and carbon dioxide (which have a small to moderate solubility in water) the gas-phase

resistance is therefore negligible. Thus the overall mass transfer coefficient 𝐾 𝑙 is

approximately equal to the mass transfer coefficient in the liquid film, 𝑘 𝑙 . Normally 𝑘 𝑙

is used for quantification of the mass transfer despite the fact that in practice only 𝐾 𝑙 can

be measured.

To find the mass transfer rate of compound A per unit of reactor volume

(volumetric mass transfer rate, 𝑞𝐴 𝑙 ) we multiply the flux, 𝐽𝐴 by the gas-liquid interfacial

𝑚2
area per unit liquid volume, 𝑎 (unit: 𝑚3 = 𝑚−1 ) Thus:

𝑞𝐴 𝑙 = 𝐽𝐴 𝑎 = 𝑘 𝑙 (𝑐 ∗𝐴 − 𝑐𝐴 ) (7)

The product of the liquid mass transfer coefficient 𝑘 𝑙 and the specific interfacial

area 𝑎 is called the volumetric mass transfer coefficient or most often 𝑘𝑙 𝑎. Due to the

difficulties in the determination of 𝑘 𝑙 and 𝑎 individually, their product is normally used

to specify the gas-liquid mass transfer. From equation (7), the volumetric mass transfer

rate can be calculated if 𝑘𝑙 𝑎 and the driving force (𝑐 ∗𝐴 − 𝑐𝐴 ) are known.

In a well-mixed tank, 𝑐𝐴 has the same value at any position in the tank, whereas

the value of 𝑐 ∗𝐴 depends on the gas-phase concentration. Due to consumption or

production, the inlet and outlet mole fraction of A will be different. A suitable

approximation for the average driving force is the so-called logarithmic mean driving

force, in which the known saturation concentrations at the inlet and exit from the tank are

used in place of the true variable, 𝑐 ∗𝐴 .

(𝑐 ∗ 𝐴 𝑖𝑛𝑙𝑒𝑡 −𝑐𝐴 )− (𝑐 ∗ 𝐴 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑙𝑒𝑡 −𝑐𝐴 )

(𝑐 ∗𝐴 − 𝑐𝐴 ) = (𝑐∗ −𝑐 )
(8)
ln[ ∗ 𝐴 𝑖𝑛𝑙𝑒𝑡 𝐴 ]
(𝑐 −𝑐𝐴 )
𝐴 𝑖𝑛𝑙𝑒𝑡
References:

Nielsen, J. (2003). Bioreaction Engineering Principles. 233 Spring street, New York:

Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers.

Doran, P. M. (1995). Bioprocess Engineering Principles. San Diego, California:

Academic Press Limited

Liu, S. (2017). Bioprocess Engineering: Kinetics, Sustainability, and Reactor Design.

Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier.