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A Comparison of Some Methods of

Estimating Volumetric Mass-Transfer
Coefficients in an External-Loop
Airlift Fermenter

zyxwvutsrqp
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F. Kamp
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University of Amsterdam, BCP Jansen Institute, University of Amsterdam,

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Plantage Muidergracht 12, 10 18 TV Amsterdam, The Netherlands

D. A. J. Wase*, W. J. McManamey, 0. Mendoza, and K. Thayanithy

Biochemical Engineering Section, Department of Chemical Engineering,
University of Birmingham, P.O. Box 363, Birmingham, B15 2TT, England

Accepted for publication July 7, 1986

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Volumetric mass-transfer coefficients were measured in
an 1I-L external-loop airlift fermenter with deionizedwater,
a fermentation medium, and during a fermentation. Both
a Mackareth oxygen electrode and a novel rapid-re-
sponse probe were used. When the conventional step-
change dynamic method was used for water, the long,
nonlinear response time of the Mackareth electrode made
correction of its readings difficult; this problem did not
occur when the rapid-response probe was used. A com-
parison was made with a method of mass-transfer coef-
ficient determination which does not involve any as-
sumptions about the gas residence time distribution.
However, this method requires that the liquid phase is
well-mixed and this requirement was not met in the airlift
fermenter. Comparison of the present results with other
KLadeterminations for airlift fermenters showed that KLa
in water depends on the active gas holdup, the value of
KLale at 20°C being ca. 0.37 s . - ' . Although higher gas
transfer rates are also reasonably high. Ho and co-
workers,' Merchuk and c o - w o r k e r ~and, ~ ~Luttmann
~
et al.4-7 have presented mathematical models for mass
transfer in airlift fermenters, taking into account such
variables as axial liquid dispersion and pressure drop
along the tubes.
Weiland and O n k e ~ ~McManamey
,~.~ et a1.,I0and Bello
et al. * studied quite extensively physical parameters
such as gas holdup, axial liquid dispersion, and mass
transfer in airlift fermenters. Mass transfer has been
studied in steady-state conditions during fermentations
(e.g. Luttmann et al.4,5and S ~ h u g e r l ' ~or) with the
assumptions of plug flow of gas and complete liquid
mixing when unsteady-state regassing techniques were
used.','2 Chapman and c o - ~ o r k e r shave
' ~ proposed a

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holdups were obtained with the fermentation medium
than for water, the values of KLak were lower, ca. 0.22
s at 20°C.
INTRODUCTION
External-loop airlift fermenters are types of loop re-
actors in which the injection of air into the bottom of
one of the vertical tubes (the riser) both aerates the
contents and causes liquid circulation up the riser and
down the downcomer. The main advantages of this
type of reactor are versatility, simple construction, and
method for determining the volumetric mass-transfer
coefficient in which no assumptions are made about
the gas mixing conditions; this method and several
others were tested in the present work, using water as
the liquid. Overall volumetric mass transfer coeffi-
cients ( K L u L ) were also determined in a sterile fer-
mentation medium and during the course of a fermen-
tation.
THEORY

zyxwvutsrqponm
the absence of regions of high shear such as exist near
the impeller in agitated vessels; the mass and heat
* To whom all correspondence should be addressed
The accuracy of the determined K L u L value depends
on the reliability of the mathematical model used and
on the accuracy of the instruments employed. In this
section, the models used in this work for KLaLdeter-
minations in nonliving aqueous systems and fermen-
tation broths will be considered.

Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Vol. XXX, Pp. 179-186 (1987)

0 1987 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. CCC 0006-3592/87/020179-08$04.00
 zyxwvutsr
zyxwvutsrq
Dynamic Methods for KLaLEvaluation in
Nonliving Aqueous Systems
Methods for KLaLEvaluation in Fermentation
Broths

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The basic conventional method for local KLuL eval- The DO concentration after a step change of the inlet
uation in a vessel filled with an aqueous solution relies gas concentration depends on the OTR and the oxygen

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on measurements of the response of the dissolved ox- uptake rate (OUR) by the microorganisms, according
ygen concentration (C,) following a step change in the to the following mass balance:

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oxygen content of the inlet gas. An oxygen mass bal-
V,dC,ldt = KLuLVI,(C, - CL) - (0UR)VL (3)
ance gives

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A technique for determining both KLaLand OUR using
V,dCJdt = KLuLVL(Ce- CL);i.e. KLuL a fast-response oxygen probe has been developed by
= - d In (C, - CL)idt (1) Bandyopadhyay and co-workers.'5 It contains two steps.

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From eq. ( l ) , when -In(C, - CL) is plotted versus
time, KLaLcorresponds to the slope.
Although C L variations can be followed accurately
with a rapid-response dissolved oxygen (DO) probe,
the value of C,. is not easily found since its value can
vary for every bubble in the fermenter. Because the
oxygen transfer rate (OTR) is usually negligible in com-
parison with the gas flow rate, and because diffusion
in the gas phase is much faster than in the liquid phase,
C , is generally taken as 100% saturation for air.
Possibly, if the oxygen content of the outlet gas is
measured and a certain gas phase residence distribu-
tion considered (usually plug flow), the local C,. can be
estimated more precisely. Chapman and c o - ~ o r k e r s ' ~
have overcome this problem by developing a model
for KL,a,evaluation that is independent of the gas res-
idence time distribution. It involves simultaneous mea-
surement of both liquid and outlet gas oxygen concen-
tration responses following a step change in the oxygen
concentration of the inlet gas.
The model is based on the following assumptions:
1) the liquid phase is well mixed, i.e., although CL
changes with time, it is uniform throughout the vessel
at any particular time;
2 ) Henry's law applies at the gas-liquid interface,
and the mass-transfer coefficient is independent of the
surface area and concentration driving force; and
3) the surface-area-to-volumeratio is nearly the same
for every bubble, which means that the bubble size
must be fairly uniform.
In the model,14 the unknown gas concentrations in
the bubbles are eliminated from the oxygen un-steady-
state and overall mass balances, and KLuLcan be eval-
uated from the outlet gas and liquid concentration re-
sponses by the following equation
First, aeration is stopped and the OUR is determined
from the rate of decrease of the DO concentration. The
second step is the resumption of aeration and the rate
of increase of CL is measured. Then, KLuL (and C,)
are calculated by rearranging eq. (3) to give
A disadvantage of this method for airlift fermenters is
that the flow pattern is considerably altered when the
aeration is switched off.
Finally, once the O U R and C , are established, a local
KLGLcan be found from the steady-state dissolved ox-
ygen concentration. Under steady-state conditions
dCJdt = 0 and eq. (3) becomes
KLuL = OUR/(C, - CL) (5)
The quantities on the right-hand side can be made di-
mensionless by expressing them as fractions of the
initial values, giving
KLuL = (OUR)'/(Cl, - C,!) (6)
EXPERIMENTAL
Apparatus
The external-loop airlift fermenter has been de-
scribed previously.'0 The gas sparger was a stainless-
steel porous metal plate ("Porosint Rigimesh," 5-pm
rating, supplied by Sheepbridge Sintered Products,
Notts) and the whole cross-sectional area of the riser
was aerated. As shown in Figure 1, the fermenter was
equipped with several side arms in which oxygen and
conductivity probes could be inserted. The working
liquid volume was 1 1 L and evaporated water was
replaced daily. The porous metal sparger was removed

Hence, a plot of dCZ/dt vs. the denominator of eq. ( 2 )

for a number oft values in the transient response range
should yield a straight line through the origin with slope
K1-aL .

180
zy
regularly for cleaning with sulphuric acid and carbon
tetrachloride.
The temperature of the liquid in the fermenter was
controlled by pumping attemperated water through the
jacket on the downcomer, and was kept at 28 2 0.3"C,
since this is best for the particular strain of Aspergillus
fitmigutus used. All measurements were made at this

BIOTECHNOLOGY AND BIOENGINEERING, VOL. 30, AUGUST 1987

 zyxwvutsrqponm
zyxwvutsrqponm
zyxwvutsrq
E
C
c

The aeration rate was measured with a calibrated

zy
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1- zyxw
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Figure 1. The external-loop airlift ferrnenter: (A) riser, (B) oxygen
electrode, ( C ) downcomer, (D) water jacket, supplied with attem-
perated water, (E) gas inlet, (F) sparger, ( C ) filter, (H) syringe for
tracer injection, and (J) conductivity probe.

temperature. The temperature was measured and re-

corded continuously by a thermoprobe, inserted at the
top of the downcomer.

rotameter. Step changes of the inlet gas from nitrogen

to air were made by simultaneously turning the valves
connected to the respective supplies off and on.

The Fermentation

Organism
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Aspergillus fumigatus IMI 255091 was the cellulo-
lytic organism, maintained by monthly subculture on
2% (w/v) malt extract agar slants.

lnoculum Preparation
The starter culture was grown for two days in shake
flasks containing 2% (wh) malt extract, inoculated with
three loopfuls of material from a slant culture. These,
in turn, provided a 15% inoculum for the airlift fer-
menter containing enzyme production medium.

Enzyme Production Medium

Enzyme production medium contained the following
per liter of deionized water: Whatman cellulose pow-
der, 20 g; KH4P04, 35 g; (NH4)*SO4, 24.5 g; sodium
citrate, 8.6 g; peptone, 6.92 g: citric acid, 4.3 I g; CaCI2,
2.1 g; urea, 0.3 g; Tween 80, 0.5 mL; polypropylene
glycol, 1.55 mL; and trace element solution, I mL. The
trace element solution contained the following per liter
of deionized water: FeS04.7H20, 5 mg; MnS04*H20,
1.56 mg; ZnS04-7H20, 1.4 mg; and CoCl,, 2 mg. The
pH of the medium was adjusted to 5.0 with 5M NaOH
solution before autoclaving.

Oxygen Concentration Measurement

Two different DO electrodes were used: a standard
Mackareth electrode ( a silver-lead sensor) and a fast-
response probe, which was a small size version of the
electrode described by Chapman and c o - ~ o r k e r s , ' ~
modified so that it could be steam sterilized. The re-
sponse time of the Mackareth electrode was deter-
mined by submerging it alternately in two vessels, one
purged with air and the other with nitrogen gas. The
response time of the fast-response probe was deter-
mined by inserting the probe in the top side-arm of the
airlift fermenter. A cap which was purged with nitro-
gen gas was pushed over the membrane of the probe.
The fermenter was aerated and the cap then rapidly
removed. This enabled the response of the probe to a
step change from nitrogen t o oxygen-saturated liquid
to be found.
The outlet gas concentration was determined as fol-
lows. Some of the off-gas stream from the riser was
collected in an inverted funnel (lip diameter of 50 mm),
the lip of which was positioned just below the upper
surface of the liquid in the riser so as t o prevent en-
trainment of atmospheric air. This gas stream was dried
by passing through a silica gel drying column and the
oxygen concentration was determined by a Servomex
OA 250 oxygen analyzer.

Gas Holdup, Liquid Circulation Rate, and

Dispersion Coefficient
The gas holdup in the riser was determined by a
pressure difference method, similar to that used by
Weilandx,Yand Bello and co-workers. The difference
in the head of liquid was measured between two side
arms 290 mm apart in the riser. The gas holdup found
in this way does not take gas bubbles at the top of the
downcomer into account. Their contribution to oxygen
transfer is assumed to be negligible.12
The liquid circulation rate and axial dispersion coef-
ficient in the riser were estimated by a conductivity
method. The fermenter was filled with distilled water.
A conductivity probe (two platinum wires ca. 10 mm
apart, sealed into a glass tube of 15 mm diameter) was
inserted into the bottom connecting tube, as shown in
Figure 1. The response of the probe was amplified and
input to a recorder, so that changes of liquid conduc-
tivity could be quickly and clearly followed. Salt pulses

KAMP ET AL.: VOLUMETRIC MASS-TRANSFER COEFFICIENTS 181

 20;

10'

0
I

0
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zyxwvutsrqponmlkjih
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j !
'"tI

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ILL,- -zyxwvu
c
10 2 0 3 0
-

Estimation of the Circulation Time and

Dispersion Coefficient in the Riser
4 0 SO
.
60

Figure 2 shows the results for a salt tracer injection

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experiment, for a gas velocity of 0.015 m/s. Eight sec-
onds after the salt solution had been injected into the
top side arm the salt pulse passed the probe in the

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bottom side arm effectively as a Dirac function, which
shows that plug flow exists in the downcomer and that
the mean residence time ( t d )there is 8 s. The mean
residence time in the riser [tr = (V,Nd)tdlwas calcu-
lated to be 41 s and the corresponding mean liquid
velocity (U,) is 0.028 m/s. If plug flow existed in the
riser the second signal from the probe would occur
after a further complete circulation of the liquid, i.e.
at t,- + 2td from the time of injection of the pulse, or
57 s after the initial injection. However, the response
actually commenced at 26 s due to the longitudinal
dispension of the liquid in the riser. Thus, the forward
penetration depth (8) of the tracer in the riser is UL(tr
+ 2t,, - 26) = 0.87 m. Treating this longitudinal dis-
persion as a diffusional process, penetration theory
gives S = rrDt, so the longitudinal diffusion coefficient
is (0.87)2/(rrt,)= 5.9 x m2/s.
1-

70
T I M E A F T E R A D D I T I O N OF T R A C E R , s

Figure 2. Mixing in the airlift fermenter.

of concentrated KCI solution were added through a

syringe at the top of the downcomer.

RESULTS
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IX
Wul

*-2
u
10

0
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0
.'
\
O\

0.2

Figure 3. Attempted evaluation of KLaLin water by the method of

Chapman and co-workers (ref. 14).

this method requires that the whole liquid phase is well

mixed and, as was shown in the previous section, this
requirement was not satisfied in the airlift fermenter.
The uniform bubble size required by the theory was
also not obtained in this work.I6
Because the method of Chapman and c o - w ~ r k e r s ~ ~
did not give satisfactory results, conventional KLaL
evaluations [i.e. using eq. (l)] were first made for
deionized water, both with the Mackareth electrode
and the rapid-response probe. The outlet gas concen-
tration had usually reached over 95% of the inlet value
by 20 s after the step change of the inlet gas. This
justified the assumption of C, as 100% saturation for
times greater than 20 s. Both probes yielded straight
lines if -ln(l - CL/C,)was plotted versus time for
times greater than 20 s after a step change of the inlet
gas (Fig. 4 shows a typical plot for the rapid response

I I I I
-i

KLaLin Water
When the method involving the rapid-response probe
described by Chapman and co-workers14 was tested,
the plot of dCZ/dt vs. the denominator of eq. ( 2 ) did
not produce the predicted single linear relationship.
Typical results in the transient response interval are
shown in Figure 3; initially (at high dCQ/dt>a decrease 0'
0 I I 1 I
was found (which would imply a negative K,a,) and 0 20 '-40 60 80
only near saturation was the expected relationship ob- TIME, S

tained. These are the least accurate values, and only Figure 4. Plot of - In ( I - CJC,)determined by the rapid-response
an order-of-magnitude estimate of K L u L could be ob- probe as a function of time after a step change of inlet gas, with
tained from them. As mentioned in the Theory section, Uc = 0.015 mis.

182 BIOTECHNOLOGY AND BIOENGINEERING, VOL. 30, AUGUST 1987

 Table I. zyxwv
zyxwvutsrqpo
Values of K,.al, in various liquids at a superficial gas velocity of 0.015 m/s.
Method
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Water
Conventional
Fermentation medium
Conventional
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&.a[. (S ~ ') 0.023
probe). The slopes of these lines correspond to KLuL.
Values found with the fast probe were ca. 3-5 times
higher than those found with the Mackareth probe.
This is due to the different response characteristics of
the two probes. Whilst the Mackareth electrode was
found to have a long, nonlinear response time (90-120
s for 90% response), the fast electrode was very much
quicker and followed linear first-order kinetics with a
63.2% response time of less than 2 s. Hence, it is ex-
tremely difficult to apply corrections to the measure-
ments with the Mackareth probe, whereas no correc-
tion had to be made for the rapid-response probe.
KLaLin the Fermentation Medium
The rapid-response probe could withstand steam
sterilization, so aseptic measurements were possible.
Advantage was taken of this to use the step-change
method [eq. (l)] to determine KLuL in the sterile me-
dium. When the fermenter was filled with enzyme pro-
duction medium containing 2% (wiv) of Whatman cel-
lulose powder, the behavior of the aerated system was
seen to be entirely different from the behavior with
water. In this case, there was a large bubble size dis-
tribution with the big bubbles rising much faster than
the small bubbles, and this caused different mixing
conditions and liquid flow patterns from those with
water. The results are compared with those for water
in the discussion section.
KLaLduring the Fermentation
KLu,* was determined by the method of Bandyopa-
dhyay and c o - ~ o r k e r sseven
'~ days after inoculation.
The difference between the inlet and outlet oxygen
concentrations in the gas were too low to determine
the oxygen uptake rate (OUR) accurately from them,
so after aeration was stopped, (OUR)' was found from
the linear decrease of Ct and was 0.49% s - l . However,
150 s after aeration had been stopped, visual inspection
showed that fluid mixing had become considerably less
(which might have affected the probe response) and
aeration was resumed. Subsequently, Ct increased.
The value of KLuL calculated from the response curve
by eq. ( 3 ) was 0.018 S K I . This agrees closely with the
KLuL value found for the medium before inoculation
at the same gas rate, as described in the previous sec-
tion. Finally, when (OUR)' was known, KLuL could
KAMP ET AL.: VOLUMETRIC MASS-TRANSFER COEFFICIENTS
During fermentation
Reference 15 Steady state
0.018 0.018 0.016
-
be evaluated at steady-state by eq. (6); this gave a value
of 0.016 s-'.
DISCUSSION
The conventional step-change dynamic method
yielded excellent results when the rapid-response probe
was used. Table I compares local KLaL values found
at the same air rate in water and the fermentation me-
dium, both before and during fermentation, and shows
that consistent results were obtained for conventional
techniques, the method of Bandyopadhyay and co-
workers,'s and steady-state methods. Thus, provided
that a steam-sterilization-resistant rapid-response probe
is used, these methods can be regarded as rapid and
reliable for local determinations of the mass-transfer
coefficient.
In many previous studies of oxygen transfer into
water the volumetric mass-transfer coefficient was based
on the total volume of aerated dispersion (KLa).This
is related to KLuL [defined by eq. (I)] and gas holdup
by
KLu = KLuL(I - E) (7)
The results of the present work are compared with
previous investigations of mass transfer into water in
external-loop airlift f e r m e n t e r ~ ~ ,by
~ . 'converting
* them
to KLu, where necessary. In addition, the measure-
ments of Weiland and OnkerF9 were made at 20°C and
those of Bello and co-workersi2 were made between
15 and 18°C so, for comparison, KLu values at 20°C
were estimated from the results of the present work
and those of Belle'* by using the variation of KLu with
temperature suggested by Andrew l7and Heijnen and
van't Riet.'* The corrections applied were that the
present KLu values at 28°C were divided by 1.2 and
the KLu values of Bello'2 (taken to be at 165°C) were
multiplied by 1.1. The relationships used for these cor-
rections were found for water but were also used t o
calculate KLu values at 20°C for the medium.
Plots of KLu at 20°C and gas holdup versus super-
ficial gas velocity (on log-log coordinates) for the pres-
ent results and those for water of Weiland and Onken*.'
are given in Figure 5 . Comparison of both sets of re-
sults for water shows that, at all gas velocities, KLu
for the present work was ca. 1.7 times larger than those
found by Weiland and O n k e ~ Pand , ~ the gas holdups
were between 2 and 3 times larger. For the present
results, the usual linear relationships were observed
zyx 183
 cv

w
-
0zyxwv
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X
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N
0
c

c
X

I
2 2
0
0
9

/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/

x o
0

+
O
X

0
me
m
X
+
X

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0
N
5 1
0
2

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Y
h
N
0 01 I 1
0 2 4 6 8
I G A S HOLD-UP x lo2
n
v
Figure 6 . Plot of KLa at 20°C vs. gas holdup. Results are shown
V 00. for water for the (0)present work, (X) Weiland and Onken (refs. 8
*
./
O O
"0 and 9), and ( + ) Bello and co-workers (ref. 12), and for the fermen-
cv tation medium for the (0)present work, (---) for a bubble column
+
4 0
0 0
O
with porous plate sparger (ref. 201, and for a (-1 bubble column
with tube sparger (ref. 21).
J
0

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J

zyxwvutsrqponmlk
* 1
1 2 4 6 8
the downcomer causes negligible mass transfer in this
region). A plot of KLu at 20°C versus gas holdup is
G A S VELOCITY (m S-1 x 102)
given in Figure 6 for the present work, the results for
Figure 5. Plot of gas holdup and K,aL at 20°C vs. the superficial water of Weiland and O n k e ~ Pand
. ~ the results of Bello
gas velocity, on log-log coordinates: (0)water and (0)fermentation and co-workersI2 for a ratio of downcomer-to-riser areas

zyxwvutsrq
medium. The lines represent the results of refs. 8 and 9.
on the log-log plots between KLu and gas velocity and
holdup and gas velocity, except for a drop in KLu for
gas velocities above 0.02 d s . This corresponded to
the transition from bubbly flow (relatively small and
uniform bubbles) to slug flow (when some large bubbles
form) and, as expected, confirms that the latter type
of flow is undesirable for efficient mass transfer. Al-
though porous plate spargers were used both by Wei-
land and O n k e ~ Pand
- ~ in the present work, in the equip-
ment used by Weiland and Onken only the central part
of the riser was aerated, whereas in the present equip-
ment the sparger aerated the whole cross-sectional area
of the riser. The proportion of the riser's cross-sec-
tional area that is gassed has previously been shown
to have an effect on gas holdup'O (the higher the pro-
portion gassed the higher the holdup), so a similar in-
fluence on KLu is not unexpected.
Andrew" has suggested that gas holdup determines
KLa in free bubble rise reactors and McManamey and
WaseI9 have pointed out that the KLu results obtained
by Bello and co-workersI2 in concentric-tube and ex-
ternal-loop airlift equipment can all be related to the
active gas holdup (this is the holdup in the riser ex-
pressed as a fraction of the total volume; the long res-
idence time and low relative phase velocity of gas in
of 0.11 (the ratio in the present work was 0.14, and for
Weiland and was 0.25). The holdup in the
riser (as a fraction of the total volume) was used for
the present results and those of Bello and co-workers,I2
whereas only the total holdup was available for the
results of Weiland and Onken.8,9 However, the inves-
tigation of holdup values in the riser and downcomer
by Bello and co-workers'2 showed that the holdup in
the riser is almost the same a s the total holdup for the
experimental conditions used. The satisfactory agree-
ment between all three sets of results supports the view
that the active gas holdup has the most important in-
fluence on KLa. Also shown on Figure 6 are lines rep-
resenting relationships between KLu and the holdup
found for water in bubble columns. The upper line
represents the results of Deckwer and co-workers20
(with KLa recalculated to 20°C) obtained with a porous
plate sparger and the lower line was calculated from
the correlation of Akita and Yoshida,21based on results
obtained with a single tube sparger. Similar porous
plate spargers were used in the present work, by Wei-
land and O n k e r ~and
~ , ~by Deckwer and co-workers20;
comparison of the results for the airlift fermenters with
the upper line shows that the bubble column produces
better mass transfer at similar holdup values. How-
ever, all the airlift fermenter results can be approxi-
mated by a line midway between the two extreme lines
for the bubble columns. This relationship can be ap-

184 BIOTECHNOLOGY AND BIOENGINEERING, VOL. 30, AUGUST 1987

 zyxwvutsr
zyxwvut
zyxwvutsr
zyxw
zyxwvutsr
proximately represented by KLu~E= 0.37 s - I for water
at 20"C, which is in good agreement with the value of
0.4 s I at 20°C suggested by Andrew.17
Comparison of the results for the fermentation me-
dium with those for water (Fig. 5) shows that the holdup
is generally higher (except at the highest gas velocity)
and KLa is lower. As the presence of electrolytes and
antifoam reduces bubble coalescence and so causes
smaller bubble diameters, the increase in holdup is to
be expected. Lower KL values for single bubbles have
been found in a fermentation medium than in water,22
the values in the medium being one-half to one-third
those in water. As the holdup is higher than for water,
the interfacial area per unit volume will also be higher,
but the lower KL produces lower values of K L ~ than E
for water (as can be seen from Fig. 6 ) .The mean KLdE
at 20°C for the fermentation medium is 0.22 s-I, again
in close agreement with the value of 0.25 s-' suggested
by AndrewI7 for microbiological cultures with a vis-
cosity similar to water. However, the presence of sub-
stances which affect bubble coalescence can alter this
value. An example is given by values of K L u ~ Ecalcu-
lated from measurements made by Luttmann and co-
workers4 during the cultivation of Hansenula poly-
morphu on a glucose substrate (taken from their Fig.
6). During the first nine hours, KLalc (converted to
20°C) increased from 0.21 to 0.76 s - ' . This change has
been explained by Schiigerl13 as being caused by the
production of ethanol, which suppresses coalescence;
very small bubbles are formed, which produce a high
interfacial area. The reverse effect occurred in Nan-
senulu polymorpha cultivation on ethanol substrate be-
cause, in this case ethanol was consumed rather than
produced. l 3 The initial values of K L ~ (converted
E to
20°C) were between 0.8 and 2.4 S - I , but the value in
the oxygen limitation period decreased to 0.45 s - ' as
the ethanol concentration was lower then.
The power requirement is of practical importance in
the operation of gas sparged equipment. Comparisons
made by taking the power input per unit mass equal
to grams U,, (i.e., assuming that power input is due to
isothermal expansion of the gas) show that the equip-
ment used in this work required ca. 40% of the power
input required in that of Weiland and Onken' to produce
the same value of KLaL,due to the whole cross section
of the riser being aerated in our equipment. There is
an even greater difference between the power require-
ments per unit mass for the bubble columns used by
Deckwer and co-workersZ0and Akita and Yoshida,"
the former requiring ca. one-sixth of the power per unit
mass of the latter to produce the same KLu. However,
such comparisons do not take into consideration the
total power required, which includes the energy needed
to overcome the pressure drop through the sparger as
well as expansion through the liquid. Sufficient infor-
mation about the pressure drops through the spargers
used is not available to evaluate their effect, but com-
KAMP ET AL.:
parative studies by Schiigerl and c o - w ~ r k e r sof~ the
interfacial area per unit volume produced by porous
and perforated plate spargers in bubble columns (their
Figs. 60 and 61) show that the former do have an ad-
vantage.
~
CONCLUSIONS
The rapid-response electrode (with a time constant
of less than 2 s) provided satisfactory dissolved oxygen
concentration measurements for the determination of
the volumetric mass transfer coefficient in fermenta-
tion systems as well as in water. The active gas holdup
was found to be a principal variable determining KLa
in any particular system. In airlift fermenters, this is
the holdup in the riser expressed as a fraction of the
total aerated volume. The values of K L u ~ E at 20°C sug-
gested by AndrewI7 (0.4 s - ' for water and 0.25 s - - 'for
fermentation media with viscosities similar to water in
the absence of substances interfering with coalescence)
are satisfactory for airlift fermenters.
The external-loop airlift fermenter used in the pres-
ent work was found to be better mixed than other
designs, to such an extent that the differential method
could not be used to determine the extent of axial
mixing. However, when the dispersion coefficient was
approximately estimated by another method it was found
to be too low for the airlift fermenter to be considered
to be well mixed. This probably explains why the method
of Chapman and c o - ~ o r k e r sfor
' ~ determining the vol-
umetric mass-transfer coefficient did not produce sat-
isfactory results. A very well-mixed liquid phase seems
to be essential for the successful use of this method,
which, therefore, may not be satisfactory for appli-
cation to industrial-scale agitated vessels.
NOMENCLATURE
liquid phase oxygen concentration in equilibrium with the
gas phase (mollm')
oxygen concentration in the liquid (mollm')
normalized liquid concentration
normalized outlet gas oxygen content
dimensionless concentration, based on initial value
gravitational acceleration (mls')
Henry's law constant (dimensionless)
overall volumetric mass transfer coefficient based on the
volume of the gas-liquid dispersion ( S K I )
overall volumetric mass transfer coefficient based on the
zyxwv
liquid volume ( s - I)
gas flow rate W / s )
time (s)
mean residence time in the downcomer ( s )
mean residence time in the riser (s)
superficial gas velocity (mls)
liquid velocity (m/s)
volumetric gas holdup (m')
volume of liquid in the downcomer (m')
zyxwvut
volume of liquid in the fermenter (m3)
volume of liquid in the riser (m')
gas holdup (dimensionless)
VOLUMETRIC MASS-TRANSFER COEFFICIENTS 185
 zyxwvutsr
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186 BIOTECHNOLOGY AND BIOENGINEERING, VOL. 30, AUGUST 1987