Mass Transfer

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 Mass Transfer

Movement of molecules
within a phase
or
between phases
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General Simplifications/Assumptions in Bioreactors
❑ The growth rate of the cells in a reactor is dependent only on their
kinetic characteristics
❑ Mixing is assumed to be perfect
❑ The feed components entering the fermenter were assumed to be
instantaneously and equally distributed throughout the fermenter
liquid.
❑ Dead zones were assumed not to exist and all cells were assumed to
have equal access to the substrates. The transfer of solutes between
different phases (eg. oxygen from an air bubble into the fermenter
liquid) was assumed to be instantaneous.
Above assumptions are not always valid. They ignore that
The movement of mass between and within phases is not instantaneous

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 Mass transfer
Mass transfer

• Fick’s Law of diffusion

Heat transfer

• Two film theory

Momentum transfer

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 Mass
Transfer

Two film theory

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 Mass transfer between
phases
• Boundary layer theory is central to the studying
interfacial mass transfer process.
• A boundary layer is described as a thin layer of
fluid surrounding a body which is immersed in or
is in contact with a fluid. The body can be a solid
object (eg. a pipe wall, a reactor tank wall, an
immobilized enzyme particle, a cellular
aggregate, or a solid substrate such as wood) or
a fluid of a different phase than the medium (eg.
an oxygen bubble or an oil globule in water).
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 The following example illustrates the boundary
layer concept.
Consider the profile of fluid flowing in a pipeline .

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Bubble or oil in water

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Quantifying mass transfer

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• Any condition which increases the
mass transfer coefficient
interfacial area
solubility of the solute
• will increase the mass
transfer rate.

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Mass transfer between phases
Effect of interfacial area on
mass transfer between phases.
• The larger the surface
area of contact between
two phases the higher will
be the rate of mass
transfer. (Fig.A wide door
will allow more people to
pass than a narrow door)
• One way to increase the
interfacial area is to add
more material to the
reactor. for example, by
increasing the air flow
rate in an aerated reactor.

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• Another mechanism is
to decrease the size of
the globule or bubble.
The smaller the object
is its larger surface area
to volume ratio.
• Thus, the oxygen
transfer rate from a
bubble to the medium
will increase with
smaller average bubble
diameter. Similarly, for
reactions involving the
non-aqueous liquids
(eg. oil), the conversion
rate will increase with
fineness of the
emulsion. 13
Bubble or globule size is determined by :

• Presence of surface active agents such as

antifoams and oils
• Characteristics of the agitation system
• To ensure high interfacial mass transfer rates, the
reaction medium and the agitation system must be
designed to minimize bubble or globule
coalescence.
• Note also that available surface area in immobilized
cell cultures or immobilized enzyme reactors is also
important in determining reaction rates. The higher
the surface area, then the larger area will be
available for catalysis.
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Mass transfer between phases
Factors affecting mass transfer rates
between phases

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• Movement across the
interfacial boundary is rapid.
Therefore, the highest
concentration of solute in
the second phase will be in
the area adjacent to the
interfacial boundary.

• A concentration gradient
therefore exists between the
interfacial boundary and the
bulk liquid. Thus greater the
concentration gradient,
faster is the rate of
movement across the
boundary layer and greater
is the rate of mass transfer
between the phases.
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 The rate of movement across the
boundary layer can be increased
by
• increasing the interfacial area between the
phases
• increasing the concentration gradient
across the boundary layer
• decreasing the size of the boundary layer
• increasing the rate of movement of
molecules through the boundary layer

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Thus interfacial mass transfer rates are
affected by the following factors:

• interfacial area between the two phases

• solubility of the solute in the bulk liquid
• concentration of the solute in the area
surrounding each phase
• mixing
• viscosity and temperature of the bulk liquid

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 The importance of interfacial mass
transfer in Biotechnology

• Oxygen transfer.
• Gas-Liquid mass transfer is important when
considering the transfer of oxygen from a
gaseous to a dissolved phase.
• Other examples of processes involving gas-
liquid mass transfer are carbon dioxide
removal from the fermentation broth and
distillation of volatile products during
downstream processing.

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 The importance of interfacial mass
transfer in Biotechnology
Liquid-liquid mass transfer is of
importance in
• steroid transformation
• breakdown and biological conversion
of oils and alkanes
• and in downstream processing
operations involving solvent extraction.

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 The importance of interfacial mass
transfer in Biotechnology
solid-liquid mass transfer
• The rate of solid-liquid mass transfer
must be considered when dealing with
microbial pellets and immobilized cell
and enzyme systems.
• Solid-liquid mass transfer will also be
important in downstream processing
operations such as de-ionization,
adsorption and crystallization.
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 A Case Study
Gas-Liquid Mass Transfer In
Cellular Systems

Oxygen transfer

interfaces& Hindrances
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