Bioprocess Engineering 8 (1993) 223-228

Bi0pr0cessEngineering
9 Springer-Verlag 1993

Oxygen transfer in a stirred loop fermentor

with dilute polymer solutions
S. Kura, H. Nishiumi and Y. Kawase, Tokyo, Japan

Abstract. Oxygen transfer in a 0.35 m diameter stirred loop fermen- Elmayergi et al. [5, 6] observed that polymer additives
tor (a stirred tank with a concentric draft tube) has been studied with (carboxypolymethylene) caused enhancement of growth
water containing a small amount of polymer(polyethylene oxide) as
a drag-reducing additive. rates and amylase production in a culture of Aspergillus
Power consumption was measured. It was found that the addi- niger. Elmayergi et al. [5] suggested that mass transfer en-
tion of polyethylene oxide causes an increase of power consumption. hancement from bubbles to liquid or from liquid to mold
This is contrary to the results reported in the literature. pellets is responsible for the increase in growth rates. Later,
Volumetric mass transfer coefficients (KLa) were measured. In
Elmayergi and Moo-Young [6] interpreted the enhancement
water the introduction of the draft tube increased the K La coeffi-
cient. The increase in K z a became larger with impeller speed. On of growth rates in terms of increased mass transfer rates into
the other hand, mass transfer in dilute polymer solutions decreased the growing mold pellets. This additional data indicated that
due to the presence of the draft tube. An empirical correlation has the mass transfer from bubbles to liquid was not the rate-
been proposed for the volumetric mass transfer coefficient in stirred controlling step.
loop fermentors. It has a general applicability.
Several studies of the turbulent drag reduction of polymer
additives such as polyethylene oxide and polyacrylamide in
List of symbols stirred tanks have been reported. They are expected to be
beneficial in certain biochemical processes. There has been
a 1/m specific surface area interest in the power consumption reduction due to the
C constant in Eq. (6) drag-reducing effect of the polymer additives. Furthermore,
g m/s 2 gravitational acceleration
KL m/s overall liquid-phase mass transfer coefficient the reduction of the small scale turbulence due to the drag-
n 1/s impeller speed reducing additives may be beneficial in systems with shear
P W aerated power input by mechanical agitation sensitive micro-organisms. It should be noted that the vis-
P. w power input by sparged air cosity of dilute polymer solutions is low and comparable
Q m3/min volumetric gas flow rate with that of water.
U,g m/s superficial gas velocity
V m3 liquid volume Quraishi et al. [7, 8] measured power consumption in aer-
ated stirred tanks in dilute polymer solutions (polyacryl-
Greek symbols amide and polyethylene oxide) and reported torque suppres-
exponents in Eq. (3) sion under turbulent conditions.
exponent in Eq. (6) However, the polymer additives are likely to reduce the
Q kg/m 3 density mass transfer rate which is one of the most important
parameters for the performance of fermentors. In fact,
Ranade and Ulbrecht [9] found a significant reduction of the
volumetric mass transfer coefficient (Kra) due to the addi-
1 Introduction tion of polyacrylamide. They showed that the influence of
the polymer additive is primarily reflected in the reduction of
A stirred loop fermentor (a stirred tank with a concentric the specific interfacial area (a). An empirical correlation for
draft tube) has been investigated by Einsele and Karrer [1], Kra was proposed. It should be mentioned, however, that
Keitel and Onken [2], and Sleichter [3, 4]. The introduction the correlation given in their paper does not correlate their
of a draft tube can be expected to be a possible way of own data. The coefficient in their correlation should be
improving the performance of stirred tank reactors. It may 1.0 x 10 -3 instead of 2.5 x 10 -4.
produce a well-defined liquid circulation and a more homo- Joshi and Kale [10] discussed the effect of drag-reducing
geneous reactant distribution in the reactors. agents on mass transfer in the gas inducing type contactors.
224 Bioprocess Engineering 8 (1993)

Their experimental data indicate that the volumetric mass

transfer coefficient is enhanced due to the addition of drag-
reducing agent. This is inconsistent with the data of Ranade
and Ulbrecht [9].
A complete understanding of the effect of polymer addi-
tives on mixing and mass transfer in stirred tank type fer-
mentors needs further study.
The purpose of the present study is to examine oxygen
transfer in a stirred loop fermentor with dilute polymer solu-
tions. Experiments are carried out in a 0.35 m diameter
stirred tank fermentor with a draft tube 0.17 m in diameter.
We invoke a correlation for K L a in stirred loop fermentors.

2 Experimental

The schematic experimental set-up is shown in Fig. 1. The

geometrical details of the stirred loop fermentor are given in
Table 1. The fermentor was filled with 0.04 m 3 of liquids. In
this experiment, a dual impeller system was used. The flow Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of stirred loop fermentor. 1 pH senser,
from the pitched blade turbine installed near the free surface 2 Thermometer, 3 Dissolved oxygen senser, 4 Thermodac, 5 pH
is predominantly axial and produces strong liquid circula- meter, 6 Personal computer, 7 Pitched blade turbine, 8 Six-blade
tion. The six-blade disk turbine was used as a lower impeller. disk turbine, 9 Ring sparger, 10 Draft tube
It produces a radial discharge liquid stream and therefore is
useful for gas dispersion and bubble break-up. A main liquid
Table 1. The dimensions of the fermentor (0.050 m 3)
flow developed in the stirred loop fermentor was upward in
the annular region and downward in the draft tube. The Vessel: working volume 0.040 m 3
concentric draft tube enhances axial flow while it causes on diameter 0.35 m
obstruction to the radial flow of liquid. height 0.60 m
The air was sparged into the fermentor through the ring Impeller:
Pitched blade turbine (45~)
sparger after passing through a calibrated rotameter. The diameter 0.133 m
air flow rate was varied between 1.67 x 10 -4 and 8.33 x height of blade 0.0302 m
10-~m3/s. width of blade 0.0302 m
Experiments were carried out in a semi-batch manner. location 0.38 m above the bottom
Six-blade disk turbine
The power input to the liquid was measured using a watt
diameter 0.119 m
meter. The power losses due to the bearing and mechanical disk diameter 0.0796 m
seals were evaluated from the power measurement in the height of blade 0.02485 m
empty fermentor [1, 11]. The revolutions of the impellers width of blade 0.03085 m
were varied between 0 and 8 rps. location 0.08 m above the bottom
Volumetric mass transfer coefficients were determined by Buffles: number 3
width 0.0319 m
the dynamic method. A galvanic oxygen probe was used to
Sparger (ring sparger):
measure transient response of the liquid phase oxygen con- number of orifices 24
centration. orifice diameter 0.002 m
The polymer drag-reducing additive used in this experi- ring diameter 0.t 3275 m
ment is polyethylene oxide (PEO, Wako Co., 163-13815) in location 0.035 m above the bottom
concentrations of 100, 500 and 1,000 p.p.m, in water. Draft tube: height 0.3 m
diameter 0.175 m

3 Results and discussion

3.1 Power consumption
The experimental data on power consumption are given in
Fig. 2.
The presence of gas phase has been k n o w n to reduce the
power consumption. This is mainly due to a decrease in the
density of the liquid around the impeller because of the
presence of air bubbles. The reduction in power consump-
tion of about 50% due to the introduction of gas was found.
In the range of U~o> 1 x 10-3 m/s, the power consumption
was almost independent of the gas flow rate. For reference,
power consumption data for water are also plotted. The
reduction in power consumption due to aeration in dilute
S. Kura et al.: Oxygen transfer in a stirred loop reactor 225

polymer solutions seems to be slightly smaller than that in 10

pure water. kW/m 3
o
It is seen from Fig. 2 that although there is some scatter
> B--
in the data the power consumption for dilute polymer solu-
tions is somewhat larger than that for water. This is contrary g
to the result of Quraishi et al. [7, 8]. U p to the concentration
of 100 p.p.m, of the polymer, the increase of power consump-
tion was insignificant. Although no quantitative explanation o=
can be given at this time, one of the possible explanations for
this result is a complicated behavior of bubbles. The cavity
o
formed behind the impeller blade may be significantly affect- 0
0
ed by the polymer additive. In high viscosity systems, large
g
and stable cavities are usually attached behind the impeller o-
U)
blades. The visual observation indicated that the particular-
ly large and stable cavities behind the impeller blade which 0
0 2 4 6 8 m/s 10
cause the significant reduction of power consumption were Superficial gos velocity Usg,,lO 3
not formed in dilute polymer solutions. Therefore, the power
Fig. 2. Power consumption in stirred loop fermentor (n = 4 rps).
reduction in the P E O solutions due to the aeration may be 9 100 p.p.m, pEO, 9 500 p.p.m. PEO, o pure water
almost the same as that in water. In the dilute polymer
solutions, bubble break-up and coalescence were enhanced
and as a result tiny bubbles and relatively large bubbles were % 10 -1
/
formed. Large bubbles rising with high velocities in the di- S-1
i ~7 J V " ~ V
lute polymer solutions resulted in a decrease of the overall
/
gas hold-up and as a result caused a slight increase of power / Iv/ a , IAA
consumption. A 9 D~ ~
o 10_2
to
3.2 Volumetric mass transfer coefficient g

The K L a values obtained using water in the 0.050 m 3 stirred -|

10-3
loop fermentor are shown in Fig. 3 along with the data ._o
obtained in the conventional stirred tank fermentor. An in- %
crease of the K L a coefficient with gas flow rate was found. A E
dependence on the gas flow rate decreased with increasing
impeller speed. In aerated stirred tank reactors, there are two 10-4 I I I I TIll I I I I l III
10 rn3/min 102
limiting mixing regions: Agitation-contr011ing region at high
Gos f l o w rote O,"10 3
impeller speeds and aeration-controlling region at low im-
peller speeds. At high impeller speeds, K L a is dependent of Fig. 3. Volumetric mass transfer coefficient in fermentor (pure water).
the impeller speed but not the gas flow rate. As shown in Stirred loop fermentor Conventional stirred tank
9 0 rps o 0 rps
Fig. 3, therefore, the gas flow rate had relatively little influ- * 2rps <, 2rps
ence on the K L a coefficient for n > 4 rps. 9 4 rps D 4 rps
The data for n = 0 rps are compared with the correlation 9 6rps zx 6rps
for bubble columns proposed by Shah et al. [12]. Their cor- 9 8 rps v 8 rps
Eq. (1) for bubble column, ---- Eq. (2) for stirred tank
relation is
K L a = 0.467 U~ (1)

It is seen in Fig. 3 that the above correlation agrees reason-
ably well with the experimental data for n < 2 rps in the
aeration-controlling region.
Van't Riet [13] proposed the following correlation from
extensive literature data for aerated conventional stirred
tank reactors with water:
K r a = 2.6 x 10-z ( p / v ) 0 . 4 UsO.5 (2)
Fig. 3 shows good agreement between the present exPeri-
mental data in the conventional stirred rank reactor for
n = 8 rps in the agitation-controlling region and Eq. (2). At
this high impeller speed, mechanical agitation plays a dom-
inant role in mass transfer.
In water, the presence of the draft tube gave lower volu-
metric mass transfer coefficients than those obtained in the
absence of the draft tube. This coincides with the results in
bubble columns with and without draft tubes [14]. For
n < 2 rps, the oxygen transfer rate was only slightly affected
by the presence of the draft tube. The influence of the draft
tube becomes more efficient with increasing impeller speed.
226 Bioprocess Engineering 8 (1993)

104 input, gassing rate, liquid viscosity and so on, no reliable

Y S- 1 0 oo correlation for K L a has been established.
0
It is assumed that the K L a coefficients obtained in this
work are correlated by the following form:
8 10-2 K z a = o~{ ( P / V + P.)tPy u g , (3)
9 ,~
to
g I) I> where the power input by aeration is given as

tO
tO 4) = U~gg. (4)
104
This functional form is assumed by considering the following
two limiting relations:
E For no impeller agitation ( P / V = 0) or the aeration-con-
trolling region (Po >>P/V), Eq. (3) reduces to
I P ~ i ~Jrrl ~ p n ~ Irpp
10-4
10 rnS/mln 10 2
K L a = c~ U~. (5)
Gas f l o w rote 0..10 3

Fig. 4. Volumetric mass transfer coefficient in fermentor (dilute poly-
mer solution).
Stirred loop fermentor Conventional stirred tank
(8 rps) (8 rps)
9 500 p.p.m. PEO [] 500 p.p.m. PEO
9 100 p.p.m. PEO o 100 p.p.m. PEO
9 0 pure water o 0 pure water
(0 rps)
Ax 1,000 p.p.m. PEO
'I> 100 p.p.m. PEO
0 pure water
In particular, there were substantial increases in K L a with
the introduction of the draft tube at low aeration rates. The
presence of the draft tube affected the liquid mixing induced
by the agitation rather than that by aeration.
Fig. 4 illustrates the volumetric mass transfer coefficient
for dilute polymer solutions. It is seen that the KL a coeffi-
cient in dilute polymer solutions increased due to the pres-
ence of the draft tube unlike the results in water.
In the aeration-controlling region (n = 0 rps), the addi-
tion of small amounts of water soluble polymer was harmful
in gas-liquid mass transfer rate. For the conventional stirred
tank fermentor, the K L a decreased considerably by the poly-
mer additive. This finding is exactly what was obtained by
Ranade and Ulbrecht [9]. However, in the case of the stirred
loop fermentor, the K L a coefficient was enhanced by the
water soluble polymer. This result is closely linked to the
increase in power consumption of the stirred loop fermentor
with dilute polymer solutions shown in Fig. 2.
In the stirred loop fermentor with the PEO solutions, as
described above, a very large and stable cavity which is
ineffective to mass transfer was not formed. This attributes
to an increase in K L a due to the polymer additive. The
polymer solutions had significant effect on K L a at low aera-
tion rates.
A considerable effort has gone into the development of
the correlation for the volumetric mass transfer coefficient.
Since it is affected by many variables such as impeller power
In the early studies, this functional form has been used for
the volumetric mass transfer coefficient in bubble columns.
It has been shown that 7 ranges between 0.78 to 1.0 and
varies widely from 0.24 to 1.45 [15].
In the agitation-controlling region (P/V>>Po) , Eq. (3)
yields
K L a = o: (0 g) - ~ ( P / V ) p U ~ - # ,
( = C ( P / V ) ~ U,~'). (6)
Many previous investigators proposed correlations for con-
ventional stirred tank reactors in the above form. Data on
K L a have been correlated with the power per unit volume
and the superficial gas velocity. Moo-Young and Blanch [16]
showed that the exponent for ( P / V ) ranges between 0.4-0.42
for water and 0.52-0.74 for electrolyte, while the exponent
for U,g ranges 0.35 to 0.5 for water and 0.26 to 0.62 for
electrolyte.
The above discussion suggests that the proposed correla-
tion has a general applicability.
A least-squares analysis of the K L a values obtained in the
0.050 m s fermentor gives:
a = 1.222, fi = 0.5, y = 1.0. (7)
Measured values of K L a are plotted against the K L a values
predicted by Eq. (3) with Eq. (7) in Fig. 5. The correlation for
the stirred loop fermentor has an average error of 40.1%.
Although this error is relatively large, the error involved in
an estimation of the accurate oxygen concentration in the
fermentor does not exceed 9.5 %. It should be noted, further-
more, that the prediction of the correlation obtained from
extensive literature data by van't Riet [13] is accurate within
20% to 40%.
We also obtained the constants in Eq. (3) for the conven-
tional stirred tank fermentor:
a = 0.939, fi = 0.5, 7 = 1.0. (8)
The error in the evaluated K L a for the conventional stirred
tank fermentor is less than 29.4%.
S. Kura et al.: Oxygen transfer in a stirred loop reactor 227

10 -I
lations in the literature in Fig. 6. Substitution of the values
S-1 for the constants given by Eq. (8) into Eq. (5) yields the fol-
lowing correlation for bubble columns (P/V < Pg):
ul

13

Y
-g
10-2
S K L a = 0.939 Uso1'~
As shown in Fig. 6, Eq. (9) is rather close to the correlation
of Shah et al. [12] (Eq. (1)).o
Substituting Eq. (8) into Eq. (6), we get:
(9)

K L a = 0.0095 (P/V) 0"5 U,g. (10)

~ 10-3
This correlation gives a somewhat lower K L a compared
with Eq. (2). This is shown in Fig. 6, where K L a / U , ~ is
plotted against the power input per unit volume, P/V.
Smith et al. [17] proposed the following correlation for
10-4 I I 111111 t I I Illl
air-water systems:
10 -4 10 -3 10-2 s-1 104
Predicted KLO-Values KL a = 0.01 (P/V) 0"475 Us0"4 . (11)
Fig. 5. Comparison between the predicted and experimental values
of the KLa coefficient for the stirred loop fermentor with n = 0-6 rps. It can be seen from Fig. 6 that Eq. (10) is quite close to
9 1,000 p.p.m. PEO Eq. (11) for U~g = 0.05 m/s.
9 500 p.p.m. PEO
9 100 p.p.m. PEO
o 0 pure water
4 Conclusions

Specific p o w e r consumption P/V The oxygen transfer in the stirred loop fermentor has been
5 10 2 s 10 3 W/m 3 discussed. The presence of the concentric draft tube sup-
10 0 I ' I 1 pressed the volumetric mass transfer coefficient in water. On
s-l/(m/s)O.S the other hand, in dilute polymer solutions K L a was higher
='~u s-1 Stirred tank / /~/ 5
due to the presence of the draft tube. It was observed that the
K L a coefficient in the stirred loop fermentor with dilute
om polymer solutions is higher compared with that for water.
-a
The increase in power consumption in the stirred loop fer-
10 -1
h~
mentor is responsible for this result.
10-1 o=
c _ 9

We proposed an empirical correlation for K L a. The pro-

P u
posed correlation is simple and applicable to a wide range of
m 5 5
m mixing conditions in a stirred loop fermentor from the aera-
tion-controlling region to the agitation-controlling region. It
.= ////~~ 7 Bubble COIL
~ubbte column
*$ m a y be concluded that the proposed correlation is useful for
E a reasonable estimation of volumetric mass transfer coeffi-
2 cient for stirred loop fermentors.
:~ 10 -2 10-2 ~
Since, unfortunately, we could not asses the effect of the
5 [ q I polymer concentration on K L a, more systematic work is
10-2 5 104 m / s necessary to characterize the influence of the water soluble
Superficial gas v e l o c i t y Usg polymer on the K L a coefficient.
Fig. 6. Volumetric mass transfer coefficient in conventional stirred
tank reactor and bubble column.
Stirred tank (P/V >>Pg) Bubble column (P/V = O)
- - Eq. (5) with Eq. (7) - - Eq. (4) References

. . . . Eq. (2) . . . . Eq. (1)

--- Eq. (10)
Considering the simplicity and generality of the correla-
tion discussed above, it is moderately useful for the estima-
tion of K L a in stirred loop fermentors.
For reference, the proposed correlation for conventional
stirred tank fermentors is compared with the available corre-
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Biotechnol. 9 (1980) 83-91
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3. Sleichter, P.: Power input of aerated agitator system of high-
speed fermenter. Collec. Czech. Chem. Commun. 52 (1987)
2181-2187
4. Sleichter, P.: Oxygen transfer in high-speed fermenter under
steady cultivation conditions. 52 (1987) 2654-2663
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5. Elmayergi, H.; Scharer, J. M.; Moo-Young, M.: Effects of poly- 14. Kawase, Y. ; Moo-Young, M.: Influence of non-Newtonian flow
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