BIORREACTORES

Grao en Biotecnoloxía
Sesión en aula de informática nº 1

Introdución ao software SuperPro Designer

Para explorar o SuperPro Designer simularase a produción de penicilina nun

biorreactor, cun exemplo similar ao do exercicio 1 do boletín 1. O obxectivo
segue sendo producir nun biorreactor submerxido que opera en modo batch, un
kmol de penicilina G (334 kg) por batch.
En base másica, a reacción para a produción de penicilina G e biomasa sería:

100 glucosa + 18,6 O2 + 5,9 H2SO4 + 9,3 NH3 ->

20 C16H18O4N2S + 30 CO2 + 33,8 H2O + 50 biomasa

Os reactivos están dispoñibles como glucosa pura, unha solución de amoníaco

ao 5% en masa, ácido sulfúrico ao 10% en masa. Todos os reactivos están a
20oC e presión atmosférica. Todos os reactivos son engadidos en proporcións
estequiométricas excepto a glucosa, que se engade cun 10% de exceso.
O biorreactor cárgase primeiro con 30 000 L de auga a razón de 300 L/min.
Despois cárganse simultaneamente a glucosa a 20 kg/min e a solución de
amoníaco a 30 L/min. Unha vez acabada a carga do amoníaco, engádese o ácido
sulfúrico a 30 L/min e, finalmente, 20 kg de biomasa a 5 kg/min. O tempo
necesario para instalar unha carga é, en todos os casos, de 5 minutos.

A reacción ten lugar durante 19 h nun biorreactor mantido a 37oC mediante

enfriamento con auga. A reacción segue unha cinética de Monod (µMax = 0,2 h-1)
con dous substratos: glucosa (Ks = 8 mg/L) e amoníaco (Ks = 1,5 mg/L).
Simulando o proceso determina a produción final de penicilina no biorreactor,
a súa concentración e a produtividade global do proceso.
Representa a evolución das concentracións de penicilina, biomasa, glucosa e
amoníaco ao longo da reacción.

1º Paso. Abrir novo arquivo e definir modo de operación. Gardar o arquivo

frecuentemente segundo avanzamos na construción do arquivo para non perder o
traballo feito.
2º Paso. Definir os compostos que actuarán como reactivos e/ou produtos

To register components (in other words, to make them available in your

process model), select Pure Components -> Register, Edit/View Properties on
the Tasks menu. This will activate the dialog shown in.
Pure components ‘Nitrogen’, ‘Oxygen’, and ‘Water’ are registered
automatically in every new process model and cannot be deleted

No caso da penicilina, é necesario crear un compoñente novo.

you can click New on the ‘Registered Pure Components’ toolbar to create a new
component for your process model. This will be automatically added to the
list of registered components

Podes facer a penicilina con propiedades idénticas ás da biomasa pero

cambiando a masa molar

3º Paso. Engadir unidades de proceso

Buscamos a unidade: biorreactor

To add a unit procedure to the flowsheet, first select the desired unit
procedure from the Unit Procedures menu. For our example, please select Batch
Vessel Procedure -> in a bioreactor.

4º Paso. Engadir correntes

Engadimos 6 correntes de entrada (auga, glucosa, solución de amoníaco,
solución de ácido sulfúrico, biomasa e aire) e 2 de saída (purga de gases e
saída de produto). É útil cambiarlle o nome e/ou o color ás correntes para
diferencialas

After you add a unit procedure to the process flowsheet, you can add streams.
There are three types of streams:
● feed (input) streams,
● intermediate streams, and
● product (output) streams.
In order to add streams to the flowsheet, you must first click Connect Mode
on the Main toolbar. When you do this and return to the flowsheet, the mouse
pointer changes to the ‘add stream’ pointer to indicate that you are in
‘Connect Mode’ (as opposed to ‘Select Mode’).
► To Add a Feed (or Process Input) Stream...
1. Click on an empty area in the flowsheet to initiate drawing of the
stream. Notice that as you move the mouse pointer over the inlet and outlet
ports, it changes to a ‘port’ pointer
► To Add an Intermediate Stream...
1. Move the mouse pointer over the desired outlet port of the source unit
procedure and once the ‘port’ pointer is displayed click on the port to
initiate drawing of the stream.
2. Move the mouse pointer over the desired inlet port of the destination
unit procedure and once the ‘port’ pointer is displayed click on the port to
terminate the stream line. SuperPro Designer automatically labels the stream.
► To Add a Product (or Process Output) Stream...
1. Move the mouse pointer over the desired outlet port of the source unit
procedure and once the ‘port’ pointer is displayed click on the port to
initiate drawing of the stream.
2. Double-click on an empty area of the flowsheet to terminate the stream.
SuperPro Designer automatically draws the product stream and labels the
stream.

6º Paso. Definir a composición das correntes de entrada

Neste caso necesitamos definir correntes de auga, glucosa, solución de
amoníaco, solución de ácido sulfúrico, biomasa e aire.

1. You can charge multiple components in the same stream if you wish. To do
this, simply add additional component names from the ‘Registered Ingredients’
listing. If the ‘Ingredient Flows’ option is selected, you can specify the
corresponding amounts of added ingredients. The computer will automatically
calculate the mass (%) and concentration (g/L or mole/L) of each ingredient,
the stream’s density (if it is not set by the user), the volumetric flowrate
and the activity of the stream. If the ‘Mass Composition’ option is selected,
you can specify the total mass or volume flow and the mass (%) of each
component. You may also select units for entry and display.

2. In addition to pure components, stock mixtures can be fed (or

“charged”) into a process step using an input stream. To add a stock mixture
to the stream, select the ‘Stock Mixtures’ option for registered ingredients
and follow the same guidelines as for adding components.
7º Paso. Especificar os procesos que teñen lugar nas unidades.
Por exemplo: carga de auga, carga de glucosa... Unha vez que todos os
compoñentes estean cargados, especifícase a reacción (Batch kinetic
fermentation) e o baleirado do reactor

In order to add operations to a unit procedure that is operated in

batch/semi-continuous mode, you can either:
● double-click on a unit procedure icon, or
● right-click on the unit procedure icon and select Add / Remove
Operations from the context menu of that unit procedure. Note that this menu
item is only available for unit procedures that are operated in batch/semi-
continuous mode.
8º Paso. Definir cada un dos procesos de carga
No caso das cargas, definir a masa ou volume engadido, o tempo de
instalación, se o proceso é secuencial respecto á última tarefa...
Exemplo cunha tarefa chamada “cargar auga”

Click Operation Data -> cargar auga (Charge). This will bring up the
‘Operation Data’ dialog for the ‘cargar auga’ operation. Through this dialog,
you can access or modify the simulation data for an operation, such as the
operating conditions, scheduling data, emission specifications, and labor-
related information. This data is grouped into several tabs. Note that
different tabs may be available for different operations.
To initialize the operating conditions for the ‘cargar auga’ operation, you
begin by selecting the charge stream for this operation. Use the ‘Charge
Using’ drop-down list at the top of the tab to select the stream

‘Volumes’ tab: Through this tab, the user can specify the maximum and
minimum allowable working / vessel volume for this operation (i.e., by the
end of the charge operation the vessel should not be more than 90 % full).
‘Scheduling’ tab: The is the right-most tab of all batch unit procedures.
Through this tab, the user can specify the start time and duration for an
operation. Note that no scheduling information is required for unit
procedures that are operated in continuous mode.

To move on the next procedure, click OK, Next Operation

9º Paso. Definir o proceso de reacción

Hai que definir tanto a estequiometría como a cinética. A estequiometría pode
ser en base másica ou molar. A cinética (Batch kinetic fermentation)
especifica ecuacións tipo Monod. Máis dunha reacción pode ter lugar en
paralelo ou de forma secuencial.

Click OK, Next Operation once more to move to the reaction operation. Notice
that the ‘Oper. Cond’s’ tab is different for this operation than it was for
the charge operations. Also, two additional tabs are present. These include a
‘Fed Batch’ tab that contains specification options for fed-batch supply of
reactants, and a ‘Reactions’ tab where the reaction parameters will be
specified.
Débese especificar tamén a duración do tempo de reacción, a transmisión de
calor e, para ter acceso aos datos, en Profiles, escóllense as variables que
se queren gardar para ter acceso en forma de táboa

10º Paso. Definir a operación de descarga

11º Paso. Simular e analizar os datos obtidos

Facer click en Solve M&E Balances e se resolverá o proceso. Varios menús
permiten analizar os datos obtidos: Charts, Reports e para as unidades nas
que hai cambios dinámicos (como o biorreactor cando ten un proceso
“cinético”) facendo click dereito pódense descargar os datos como “Dynamic
Data Records”