ASSIGNMENT 2 DETAILED SOLUTIONS

BIOREACTOR DESIGN AND ANALYSIS 2022

4. A genetically engineered strain of bacteria is used to convert a substrate to a product

in a batch fermenter. In the exponential phase, the specific growth rate of this
bacterial system is given as 0.45 h-1. Which of the following statements is/are true for
this system?

Doubling Time, td
ln 2 ln 2
𝑡𝑑 = = = 1.54 ℎ
𝜇 0.45
Division rate, 𝛿
1 1
𝛿= = = 0.65 ℎ−1
𝑡𝑑 1.54

5. Zymomonas mobilis is used for conversion of glucose to ethanol in a batch fermenter

under anaerobic conditions. For this system, assume the following conditions:
- The endogenous metabolism cannot be neglected.
- Consider the cells to be in exponential phase where the specific growth rate can
be approximated to maximum specific growth rate.

Which of the following biomass accumulation rate equation is correct for the given
batch system?
For the given reactor system, according to law of conservation of mass,
Accumulation = Input – Output + Generation - Consumption
For a batch system,
Input = Output = 0
Biomass balance on batch system,

𝑑 (𝑋𝑉)
= µ𝑋𝑉 − 𝑘𝑑 𝑋𝑉
𝑑𝑡
Assuming V is constant
𝑑 (𝑋)
= (µ − 𝑘𝑑 )𝑋
𝑑𝑡

𝑑 (𝑋)
= (µ − 𝑘𝑑 ) 𝑑𝑡
𝑋

Integrating on both sides from t = 0 to t = t and X=X0 to X=X;

As per the question µ = µ𝑚𝑎𝑥

𝑋
ln ( ) = (µmax − 𝑘𝑑 )𝑡
𝑋0

The closest option given is :

𝑋0
ln ( ) = (𝑘𝑑 − µ𝑚𝑎𝑥 )𝑡
𝑋
Glucose is being used for the production of E. coli in a 1200 m3 bioreactor. 60 g/L of glucose
is being fed into the system with a substrate conversion of 95% in the process. The biomass
yield from the substrate is 0.55 g/g. Assume that the specific growth rate is approximately
equal to µmax which is given as 0.5 h-1 . For this batch mode of operation, the initial cell
concentration is 0.1 g/L and the downtime between batches is 20 hours.

Si = S0 = 60 g/L
Sf = 0.05 x 60 g/L = 3g/L (95% conversion, so only 5% substrate remains)
X0 = 0.1 g/L
YX/S = 0.55
μmax = 0.5 h-1

6. Calculate the batch time (in terms of h)

The batch culture time in terms of hours is

1 𝑌𝑥/𝑠
𝑡𝑏 = ln [1 + ( (𝑆0 − 𝑆𝑓 ))]
µ𝑚𝑎𝑥 𝑋0

1 0.55
𝑡𝑏 = ln [1 + ( (60 − 3))]
0.5 0.1

tb = 11.5 h

7. Total mass of cells produced per batch (in kg) is

𝑋𝑓 = 𝑋0 𝑒 µ𝑚𝑎𝑥 𝑡𝑏
𝑋𝑓 = 0.1 𝑒 0.5 𝑥 11.5
𝑋𝑓 = 31.42 𝑔/𝐿
V = 1200 m 3 x 1000 L/ 1 m3 (m3 to L conversion)
𝑋𝑜 = 0.1 𝑔/𝐿
Total mass of cells (X) produced per batch 𝑋 = (𝑋𝑓 − 𝑋o)V = (31.42-0.1) g/L x 1200 x 1000 L

𝐗 = 37583 x 10 3 g = 37583 Kg
8. Total number of batches in a year is

Total time = tb + td = 11.5 h + 20 h = 31.5 h (td = 20 h)

The number of batches carried out in one year = (365 *24)/31.5 = 278 runs

9. Total mass of cells produced annually during the batch culture (tons/year) is

Annual production = Total biomass * runs = 37583 * 278 = 10448 tons/year

10. If the desired annual biomass production is to be 15,000 tons/year, what should be
the volume of the reactor (in m3)

Annual biomass production = X * No. of batches

15000 𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑠/𝑦ea𝑟 = 𝑋𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑 × 278 𝑏𝑎𝑡𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑠/𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟

𝑋𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑 = 53.956 𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑠

Total mass of cells (X) produced during the batch culture :

𝑋𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑 = (𝑋𝑓 − 𝑋0) 𝑉𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑

53.956 𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑠 = (31.419 – 0.1) g/𝑙 × 𝑉𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑
𝑉𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑 = 1722.8 𝐦𝟑