Mass Transfer

Oxygen Transfer in Fermenters

Unidad III Ing. de Biorreactores

Rodríguez, S. JC.

Marzo 2012
 Unidad temática: III Nombre: Mass Transfer
Oxygen Transfer in Fermenters

The rate of oxygen transfer in fermentation broths is influenced by several physical

and chemical factors that change either the value of kL or the value of a, or the
driving force for mass transfer, (C*AL - CAL ).

As a general rule of thumb, kL in fermentation liquids:

about 3-4 x 10-4 m s-1
this can be reduced to kL is relatively constant
1x10-4 m s-1 for smaller < 2-3 mm diameter < and insensitive to
bubbles depending on conditions
bubble rigidity.

If substantial improvement in mass-transfer rates is required, it is usually more productive to

focus on increasing the interfacial area a.

Operating values in bioreactors for the combined coefficient kLa span a wide
range over about three orders of magnitude; this is due mainly to the large
variation in a. In production scale fermenters, the value of kLa is typically in
the range 0.02 to 0.25 s-1.
 Unidad temática: III Nombre: Mass Transfer
Oxygen Transfer in Fermenters

Bubbles

The efficiency of gas-liquid mass transfer depends to a large extent on the

characteristics of bubbles in the liquid medium. Bubble behavior strongly
affects the value of kLa; some properties of bubbles affect mainly the
magnitude of kL, whereas others change the interfacial area a.

Stirred fermenters the oxygen is supplied to the medium by sparging

swarms of air bubbles underneath the impeller. The action of the impeller
then creates a dispersion of gas throughout the vessel.

In small laboratory-scale fermenters all of the liquid is close to the impeller;

bubbles in these systems are frequently subjected to severe distortions as
they interact with turbulent liquid currents in the vessel.

In industrial-scale, bubbles in most stirred tanks spend a large proportion of

their time floating free and unimpeded through the liquid after initial
dispersion at the impeller. Liquid in large fermenters away from the impeller
does not possess sufficient energy for continuous break-up of bubbles, this is
a consequence of scale.
 Unidad temática: III Nombre: Mass Transfer
Oxygen Transfer in Fermenters

Bubbles The most important property of air bubbles in fermenters is their

size. For a given volume of gas, more interfacial area a is provided
if the gas is dispersed into many small bubbles rather than a few
large ones; therefore a major goal in bioreactor design is a high
level of gas dispersion.

There are other important benefits associated with small bubbles.

• Small bubbles have correspondingly slow bubble-rise
velocities; consequently they stay in the liquid longer, allowing
more time for the oxygen to dissolve.
•Small bubbles therefore create high gas hold-up, defined as
the fraction of the fluid volume in the reactor occupied by gas:

Where ε is the gas hold-up, VG is the volume of gas bubbles in

the reactor, and VL is the volume of liquid.
 Unidad temática: III Nombre: Mass Transfer
Oxygen Transfer in Fermenters

Bubbles While it is desirable to have small bubbles, there are practical

limits.

Bubbles << 1 mm diameter can become a nuisance in bioreactors.

Oxygen concentration in these bubbles equilibrates with that in the
medium within seconds, so that the gas hold-up no longer reflects
the capacity of the system for mass transfer. Problems with very
small bubbles are exacerbated in viscous non-Newtonian broths;
tiny bubbles remain lodged in these fluids for long periods of time
because their velocity of rise is reduced. As a rule of thumb,
relatively large bubbles must be employed in viscous cultures.
bubbles in fermentation media
surface tension effects dominate with sizes greater than about 3
the behavior of the bubble mm develop internal circulation
surface. As a result, the bubbles and relatively mobile surfaces,
behave as rigid spheres with < 2-3 mm diameter < depending on liquid properties.
immobile surfaces and no internal Bubbles with mobile surfaces are
gas circulation. able to wobble and move in
spirals during free rise
 Unidad temática: III Nombre: Mass Transfer
Oxygen Transfer in Fermenters

Sparging , Stirring and Medium Properties

Because bubble size is such a critical parameter affecting oxygen transfer, it

is useful to consider the physical processes in fermenters which determine
bubble size. These processes include bubble formation, gas dispersion and
coalescence.

There exists a large variety of sparger designs:

1. simple open pipes.
2. perforated tubes.
3. porous diffusers
4. complex two-phase injector devices.

Bubbles leaving the sparger usually fall within a relatively narrow size range
depending on the sparger type. This size range is a significant parameter in
design of air-driven fermenters such as bubble and airlift columns because
there is no other mechanism for bubble dispersion in these reactors.
 Unidad temática: III Nombre: Mass Transfer
Oxygen Transfer in Fermenters

Sparging , Stirring and Medium Properties

Stirred vessels, design of the sparger and the mechanics of bubble formation
are of secondary importance compared with the effects of the impeller. As a
result of continual bubble break-up and dispersion by the impeller and
coalescence from bubble collisions, bubble sizes in stirred reactors often bear
little relationship to those formed at the sparger.

Coalescence of small bubbles into bigger bubbles is generally undesirable

because it reduces the total interfacial area and gas hold-up. Frequency of
coalescence depends mainly on the liquid properties. In a coalescing liquid, a
large fraction of bubble collisions results in the formation of bigger bubbles,
while in non-coalescing liquids colliding bubbles do not coalesce readily. Salts
act to suppress coalescence; therefore, fermentation media are usually non-
coalescing to some extent depending on composition.
 Unidad temática: III Nombre: Mass Transfer
Oxygen Transfer in Fermenters

Sparging , Stirring and Medium Properties

As illustrated in Figure, when air is sparged different gas flow patterns

develop depending on the relative rates of gas input and stirring.
 Unidad temática: III Nombre: Mass Transfer
Oxygen Transfer in Fermenters

Sparging , Stirring and Medium Properties

As shown in Figure, if the agitator speed Ni is low and

the gas feed rate Fg is high, gas envelopes the impeller
without dispersion and the flow pattern is dominated
by air flow up the stirrer shaft. Impeller flooding is said
to occur; this means that the gas-handling capacity of
the stirrer is smaller than the amount introduced.
Flooding should be avoided because an impeller
surrounded by gas no longer contacts the liquid
properly, resulting in poor mixing and gas dispersion.
 Unidad temática: III Nombre: Mass Transfer
Oxygen Transfer in Fermenters

Sparging , Stirring and Medium Properties

As the impeller speed increases, gas is captured behind the agitator blades and is
dispersed into the liquid. NiB is the minimum stirrer speed required to just
completely disperse the gas, including below the impeller. The minimum agitator
tip speed for dispersion of air bubbles even at very low gas flow rates has been
estimated by Westerterp et al as roughly 1.5-2.5 m s-1; tip speed =πNiDi where Ni
is impeller speed and Di is impeller diameter.

NiR is the speed at which gross recirculation of gas back to the agitator
starts to occur.
 Unidad temática: III Nombre: Mass Transfer
Oxygen Transfer in Fermenters

Sparging , Stirring and Medium Properties

Gas dispersion in stirred vessels takes place

mainly in the immediate vicinity of the impeller.

In a non-coalescing liquid, the bubbles remain

close to the size produced at the back of the
cavities. Because bubbles formed at the sparger
are immediately drawn into the impeller zone,
dispersion of gas in stirred vessels is largely
independent of sparger design; when the sparger
is located under the stirrer, it has been shown
that sparger type does not significantly affect
mass transfer.
 Unidad temática: III Nombre: Mass Transfer
Oxygen Transfer in Fermenters

Sparging , Stirring and Medium Properties

Under typical fermenter operating conditions,

increasing the stirrer speed improves the
value of kLa. In contrast, except at very low
sparging rates, increasing the gas flow is
generally considered to exert only a minor
influence on kLa.

Increasing the number of impellers on the

stirrer shaft does not necessarily improve kLa
even though the power consumption is
increased. The quantity of gas passing
through the upper impellers is small
compared with the lower impeller, so that any
additional gas dispersion is not significant.
 Unidad temática: III Nombre: Mass Transfer
Oxygen Transfer in Fermenters

Antifoam Agents

Foam build-up in fermenters is very common, particularly in aerobic

systems. Addition of special antifoam compounds to the medium is the
most common method of reducing foam build-up in fermenters. However,
antifoam compounds affect the surface chemistry of bubbles and their
tendency to coalesce, and have a significant effect on kLa. Most antifoam
agents are strong surface tension-lowering substances. Decrease in
surface tension reduces the average bubble diameter, thus producing
higher values of a. However, this is countered by a reduction in mobility
of the gas-liquid interface which lowers the value of kL. With most silicon-
based antifoams, the decrease in kL is generally larger than the increase
in a so that, overall, kLa is reduced. The resulting decrease in rate of
oxygen transfer can be dramatic, by up to a factor of 10.

In order to maintain the non-coalescing character of the medium and

high kLa values, mechanical rather than chemical methods of disrupting
foam are preferred because the liquid properties are not changed.
 Unidad temática: III Nombre: Mass Transfer
Oxygen Transfer in Fermenters

Temperature

The temperature of aerobic fermentations affects both the solubility of

oxygen C*AL and the mass-transfer coefficient kL. Increasing temperature
causes C*AL to drop, so that the driving force for mass transfer (C*AL - CAL)
is reduced.
Gas Pressure and Oxygen Partial Pressure

Pressure and oxygen partial pressure of the gas used to aerate

fermenters affect the value of C*AL . The equilibrium relationship between
these parameters for dilute liquid solutions is given by Henry's law:

where pAG is the partial pressure of component A in the gas, pT is total

gas pressure, yAG is the mole fraction of A in the gas, H is Henry's
constant which is a function of temperature, and C*AL is the solubility of
component A in the liquid.
 Unidad temática: III Nombre: Transferencia de mom….
Transferencia de momento

What did you learn today?

• Oxygen Transfer in Fermenters

• Bubbles
• Sparging , Stirring and Medium Properties
• Antifoam Agents
• Temperature
• Gas Pressure and Oxygen Partial Pressure