One of the major problems with stirred tank reactors is the attrition of the matrix resulting

from the vigorous stirring required for proper suspension of particles, and this becomes more
problematic if the particles are heavier or larger and fragile matrices such as gels are used.
When high volume fractions of biomass particles are preferred, and this obviously enhances
the reactor efficiency, fluidized bed technology offers many possibilities. Such reactors are
not very different from bubble columns, except perhaps for the higher biomass fraction.
Figure 4. Fluidized bed reactors (a) fluidized bed (b) tapered fluidized bed, (adopted by ref.
5). In its simplest two-phase operation (Figure 4), a flow of liquid is directed through the
particles at velocities above the 'minimum fluidization velocity'. This is the velocity at which
the pressure drop over the bed equals the weight of the particles per unit surface and they
are lifted off their fixed bed state. At higher velocities, the bed will expand and only at much
higher velocities will particles be entrained by the liquid and the fluidized bed organization be
destroyed. The settling rate drops as the solids fraction in the bed increases, and
consequently the minimum fluidization velocity is much lower than the settling velocity of a
single particle. Design of such systems in terms of adequate fluid velocities is not difficult,
but in bioreactors of this type the size and density of the aggregates or particles will depend
on the growth and hydrodynamic conditions and these are very difficult to predict accurately.
The expansion or minimum fluidization velocities are sensitive to these two parameters. This
results in a complex coupled system which is not easily described with any accuracy. If,
however, the supporting particles are rather heavy and measures are taken for a stable film
thickness, stable operation and easy design will be possible. Excess biomass detached from
the particles is entrained by the fluid and can be separated from the effluent.
Since the requirements of fluidization flow rate will seldom match the throughput for
complete conversion in continuous systems, recycling is necessary to obtain good
fluidization. Using some bed expansion and higher flow rates will give higher mass transfer
rates from the liquid to the particles. Clogging and dead zones will also be avoided and
attrition may help in controlling the particle film thickness.
Depending on particle size and density, liquid and gas flow rates, the use of recycling and
bed geometry, several mixing patterns may be obtained in which the liquid phase and the
solid phase are mixed - or not. This is important for the micro-organisms as in non-mixed
solid systems they will see rather steady conditions, but will rapidly face different conditions
of pH, temperature and concentrations of substrate, oxygen and product in the case of
mixing. If the liquid is well mixed, the concentrations are equal in all points and if complete
conversion is desired, the resulting conversion rates may be low.
With little axial mixing (especially for large height/diameter ratios), a concentration profile
may be maintained and high conversion rates in the entrance region may be combined with
complete exhaustion of the substrate in the exit part of the reactor.
In some cases a tapered form of the reactor is useful to obtain gradients in the local
velocities (Figure 4b). In the narrow bottom zone, a 'spouted bed' operation results and this
gives extra mixing, mass transfer and attrition without risk of particle entrainment in the top
of the column. As high concentrations in the inlet section may give more gas evolution or
require better external mass transfer to the particles, this geometry may be beneficial. Given
the complexity of flow and mixing patterns in fluidised bed systems, there is no easy way to
predict the performance and at least a few pilot tests on a reasonable scale are needed
before designing a full-scale plant. Usually the top of the reactor has to be wider to allow for
settling of the particles and keeping the effluent clear of immobilized biomass, but other
solutions are possible (screens or settling cones).
In a three-phase operation, air is injected into the bed and destroys some of the
characteristics of two-phase operation, usually resulting in strong backmixing in the system,
except for large height/diameter ratios. With high gas rates one reverts to air lift or bubble
column operation. In the case of strong gas evolution, some disruption of the flow patterns
can also result. When the support particles are lighter than the fluid phase (many polymers),
inverted fluid bed operation is necessary and has been proposed as an interesting
alternative for some applications.