University of Mindanao

College of Engineering Education

Davao City

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement in

Biochemical Engineering (ChE 544)

Determination of Oxygen Transfer Rates

Submitted by:
Eva Mae C. Jayson

Submitted to:
Engr. Arjan C. Lingaya

July 13, 2017

 INTRODUCTION

Efficient oxygen supply is a principal requirement for all aerobic chemical and

biological processes. The dissolved oxygen concentration in a suspension of aerobic

microorganisms depends on the rate of oxygen transfer from the gas phase to the liquid,

on the rate at which oxygen is transported into the cells and on the oxygen uptake rate

(OUR) by the microorganism for growth, maintenance and production. Oxygen transfer

in aerobic bioprocesses is essential and any shortage of oxygen vastly affects the process

performance.

Aeration refers to the process of addition of oxygen to water by utilization of the

principles of mass transfer. Aeration and agitation are important variables to provide

effective oxygen transfer rate during aerobic bioprocesses. Hence, the knowledge of the

volumetric mass transfer coefficient (kLa) is required. The determination of kLa in a

bioreactor is essential in order to establish its aeration efficiency and to quantify the

effects of operating variables on oxygen supply.

OBJECTIVES

 To perform the oxygen transfer rate mass balance.

 To determine the direct measuring of oxygen transfer rate in bioprocesses.

 To understand the effect of dissolve oxygen concentration on the specific

oxygen uptake rate.

 To illustrate the ways of oxygen transfer in bioreactors in various scales.

 In aerated systems, oxygen transfer rates are the critical limiting factor in pro-

viding the optimal environment. It is modeled to be directly proportional to the driving

force generated by the difference between the equilibrium saturation concentration (CL*)

and actual dissolved oxygen concentration (CL) in the liquid phase. The determination of

kLa in bioreactors is essential in order to establish aeration efficiency and to quantify the

effects of the operating variables on the provision of dissolved oxygen. A number of

methods have been developed to determine the oxygen transfer rate in bioreactors (Van't

Riet, 1979).

The mass balance for the dissolved oxygen in the well-mixed liquid phase can be

written as:

Thus, oxygen mass transfer rate can be described as proportional to the concentration

gradient. For aerobic fermentation the maximum value of the concentration gradient is

limited due to the low solubility of oxygen.

Determination of Oxygen Transfer Rates

GAS PHASE ANALYSIS

This method uses a gaseous oxygen analyzer to measure the oxygen concentration

both in the inlet and the outlet gas stream of the bioreactor and a probe for measuring the
dissolved oxygen concentration in the liquid. An oxygen mass balance under steady-state

conditions yields:

(Fin O2 – Fout O2 – V) (OUR) = 0

where:

OUR = oxygen uptake rate

F(inlet) and F(outlet) = the molar flow rates

V = the bioreactor volume

Considering at steady-state, the rate of oxygen transfer from the bubbles is equal to the

rate of oxygen consumption by the cells:

kLa ( C*L− CL) = OUR

Once the oxygen uptake rate is determined from the measurement of oxygen in the

exhaust gas and, at the same time, the dissolved oxygen concentration is measured in the

medium, kLa can be calculated according to:

kLa = Fin O2 – Fout O2

V ( C*L− CL)

Where:

CL= oxygen concentration in the liquid phase

C*L= equilibrium or saturation concentration of the oxygen in the liquid under the

temperature and pressure conditions in the bioreactor

 This technique is based on measuring the oxygen concentration of the air inflow

and air outflow, accurate modelling of gas phase mixing being required for the correct

interpretation of the measurement of the oxygen transfer rate (Van't Riet, 1979). Also, it

is important to take into account the fraction of the oxygen consumed because, if oxygen

uptake rate is low, the variation of the oxygen concentration between the inlet and the

outlet of the gas stream is very small, and it becomes necessary to use very sensitive

measuring equipment. On the other hand, if the size of the bioreactor is large, the variation

in driving force (C*L−CL) in the bioreactor can be significant. In this case, the logarithmic

average value between the inlet and outlet of the gas stream can be a good approximation

for the driving force.

DYNAMIC METHODS

The dynamic methods are based on the technique proposed by Taguchi and

Humphrey (1966), measuring the respiratory activity of microorganisms which are

actively growing in the bioreactor. If the gas supply to the bioreactor is turned off, the

dissolved oxygen concentration will decrease at a rate equal to oxygen consumption by

the respiration of microorganism.

 Schematic description of the direct measuring of OTR in bioprocess by the classical
dynamic technique.

Under these conditions:

During the re-oxygenation, the system is at an unsteady state. The rate of change

in dissolved-oxygen concentration is equal to the rate of oxygen transfer from gas to

broth, minus the rate of oxygen uptake by the cells the equation is simplified to:
 Where qOx is the rate of oxygen consumption. We can determine an expression

for qOx by considering the final steady dissolved-oxygen concentration. When dCAL/dt

= 0, therefore:

Thus,

Obtaining OUR from the slope of the plot of dissolved oxygen concentration (after

stopping air flow) vs time; biomass concentration must be known (or measured) at this

time. When the aeration is turned on again, the dissolved oxygen concentration increases

until it reaches the steady oxygen concentration, and by using the estimated OUR value,

kLa can be determined from the measured profile of dissolved oxygen concentration.

Under these conditions, for a given biomass concentration, CL, and once qO2 value is

known, it can be integrated, taking into account the time at which the aeration of the

culture is restored (t = t1 ∴ C = CAL, known), and the following equation can be applied:
 This equation can be used to determine the volumetric oxygen mass transfer

several times during the production process, solving this equation for each data set of

experimental values of CAL vs. time. This method is simple, and can be applied during

an actual fermentation, when the response time of the oxygen electrode is lower than the

characteristic time for the mass transfer processes.

Relationship between Specific Oxygen Uptake Rate and Dissolved-Oxygen Concentration

The effect of dissolved oxygen concentration on the specific oxygen uptake rate is
follow the curve given above.

The specific oxygen uptake rate increases with increase in the dissolved oxygen

concentration up to a certain point (referred to as Ccrit) above which no further increase

in oxygen uptake rate occurs.

 Some examples of the critical oxygen levels for a range of micro-organisms:

Maximum biomass production may be achieved by satisfying the organism's

maximum specific oxygen demand by maintaining the dissolved oxygen concentration

greater than the critical level. If the dissolved oxygen concentration were to fall below

the critical level then the cells may be metabolically disturbed.

Oxygen Transfer in Vessels

The oxygen transfer rate (OTR) must be known, and if possible predicted to

achieve an optimum design operation and scale-up of bioreactors. The gas–liquid mass

transfer in a bioprocess is strongly influenced by the hydrodynamic conditions in the

bioreactors. These conditions are known to be a function of energy dissipation that

depends on the operational conditions, the physicochemical properties of the culture, the

geometrical parameters of the bioreactor and also on the presence of oxygen consuming

cells.
 Oxygen is normally supplied to microbial cultures in the form of air, because air

is the cheapest available source of the gas. The method for supply of air in a culture is

varies with the scale of the process:

(i) At laboratory-scale cultures may be aerated by means of the shake-flask

technique where the culture is grown in a conical flask shaken on a platform

contained in a controlled environment of chamber.

(ii) Pilot- and industrial-scale fermentations broth or culture is aerated by

-stirred or agitation method.

(iii) Some bioreactor or fermenter are so designed that adequate supply of

oxygen is obtained without agitation and such bioreactor or fermenter are called

bubble columns and air-lift fermenter.

 REFERENCES

Nielsen, J. (2003). Bioreaction Engineering Principles. 233 Spring street, New York:

Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers.

Doran, P. M. (1995). Bioprocess Engineering Principles. San Diego, California:

Academic Press Limited

Liu, S. (2017). Bioprocess Engineering: Kinetics, Sustainability, and Reactor Design.

Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier.

Taguchi H, Humphrey AE. Dynamic Measurement of the volumetric oxygen transfer

coefficient in fermentation systems. J Ferment Technol 1966;44:881–9.

Van't Riet K. Review of measuring methods and nonviscous gas–liquid mass transfer in

stirred vessels. Ind Eng Chem Process Des Dev 1979;18:357–64.