Drilled hole sparge design program

Drilled hole sparge calculator for fermentation and cell culture applications

Darcy formula reference

Bioreactor harvest volume (L) 5000 q = 0.525 Y C d2 (ΔP/V)0.5 crane 1-9
Peak OTR sparge rate (vvm) 0.01
Peak sparge rate (slpm) 50 where: design min max
Design sparge rate (slpm) 57.5 q = gas flow per hole (lbs/sec)-
d = orifice size (mm)-
Bioreactor head pressure (psig) 5 Y = gas expansion factor 1 crane A-21
Liquid height above sparger (in) 67 C = flow coefficient for nozzle 0.6 crane A-20
Liquid specific gravity 1.06 ΔP = pressure drop across orifice (psi) 0.6 0.02 2.5
Gas inlet temperature (deg C) 20 V = Specific volume of gas at inlet (ft3/lb)
Vessel pressure at sparger (atm) 1.51
Instructions:
sparge gas density (lbs/ft3) 0.11 User input data necessary for sizing is highlighted in "blue". Calculations
Specific volume of gas at inlet (ft3/lb) 8.78 in "black", and critical outputs in "red". This program utilizes the Darcy formula
(Row 19) to calculate the design flow of sparge gas through a single orifice (Row 17).
ideal gas assumptions are made due to the moderate pressures and temperature
encountered (Rows 9-15). In addition to the recommended design flow rate
(Rows 19+20), Min and Max allowable sparge rates are provided (Rows 21-24).
The graph provides a visualization of the calculations. By entering target sparge rate
data (Rows 4-7) the number of drilled holes (design case) is provided in Row 29.
Row 30 considers the case where a single 1/8" drain hole is also provided.
NOTE:
All cells are "open" for maximum flexability so save any changes you make to a new
revision to preserve original correlations. References are provided in individual cells
where needed.

1/16" 1/8"
orifice size (mm) 0.5 1 1.59 2 3.18 4
orifice size (in) 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.13 0.16
Design gas flow per hole (lbs/s) 3.19E-05 1.28E-04 3.22E-04 5.10E-04 1.29E-03 2.04E-03
Design gas flow per hole (sccm) 476.10 1904.40 4799.38 7617.59 19197.52 30470.36
Min gas flow per hole (lbs/s) 5.82E-06 2.33E-05 5.87E-05 9.32E-05 2.35E-04 3.73E-04
Min gas flow per hole (sccm) 86.92 347.69 876.24 1390.78 3504.97 5563.10
Max gas flow per hole (lbs/s) 6.51E-05 2.60E-04 6.56E-04 1.04E-03 2.63E-03 4.17E-03
Max gas flow per hole (sccm) 971.83 3887.33 9796.69 15549.34 39186.77 62197.36
Velocity at Max gas flow (fps) 270.64 270.64 270.64 270.64 270.64 270.64
Velocity at Design gas flow (fps) 132.59 132.59 132.59 132.59 132.59 132.59

Design flow through 1/8" CIP drain hole (slpm) 19.2 19.2 19.2 19.2 19.2 19.2
Number of drilled holes w/o drain 121 30 12 8 3 2
Number of drilled holes w 1/8" drain 80 20 8 5 2 1

Design (Min/Max) chart

delta P orifice
Sparge flow rate vs orifice size (psig) (mm)
0.02 4
4.0 0.02 3.18
0.02 2
3.5 0.02 1.59
0.02 1
3.0 0.02 0.5
0.6 4
Orifice size (mm)

2.5 0.6 3.18

0.6 2
0.6 1.59
2.0
0.6 1
0.6 0.5
1.5 2.5 4
2.5 3.18
1.0 2.5 2
2.5 1.59
0.5 2.5 1
2.5 0.5
0.0
Row 46 Row 47 Row 48 Row 49 Row 50 Row 51
Air sparge rate through single orifice (sccm)

Column K

ETbpcdhspargeDES2a.xls 1 10/03/2006
 Drilled hole sparge design program

orifice flow flow

(in) (lbs/sec) (sccm)
0.16 3.73E-04 5563.10
0.13 2.35E-04 3504.97
0.08 9.32E-05 1390.78
0.06 5.87E-05 876.24
0.04 2.33E-05 347.69
0.02 5.82E-06 86.92
0.16 2.04E-03 30470.36
0.13 1.29E-03 19197.52
0.08 5.10E-04 7617.59
0.06 3.22E-04 4799.38
0.04 1.28E-04 1904.40
0.02 3.19E-05 476.10
0.16 4.17E-03 62197.36
0.13 2.63E-03 39186.77
0.08 1.04E-03 15549.34
0.06 6.56E-04 9796.69
0.04 2.60E-04 3887.33
0.02 6.51E-05 971.83

ETbpcdhspargeDES2a.xls 2 10/03/2006