Bioreactors circulation pattern

Stirred tank reactor the most common type of bioreactor used in industry. A draught is fitted which provides a defined circulation pattern. 

Because modulation of enzyme activities depends on metabolite concentrations, which in turn are determined by the entire metabolic network, the overall response time for these controls can be on the order of seconds. This is the same as the time scale for changes in environmental conditions (e.g., pH, dissolved oxygen concentration) encountered by cells as they circulate through the nonuniform contents of a large-scale bioreactor. Therefore, beyond the complexities of enzyme activity control in the steady state, dynamic properties of this control system are important. The circulation pattern in a bioreactor has major effects on product formation [28]. Lack of understanding of transient responses of cell metabolism is one central obstacle to systematic scale-up of laboratory results (obtained in idealized,... 

A modified type of airlift system widi gas and liquid flow patterns in which a pump transports the ah and liquid through die vessel. Here, an external loop is used, with a mechanical pump to remove the liquid. Gas and circulated liquid are injected into the tower through a nozzle. Figure 6.2 shows an airlift bioreactor diat operates widi an external recirculation pump. 

In the case of airlift reactors, the flow pattern may be similar to that in bubble columns or closer to that two-phase flow in pipes (when the internal circulation is good), in which case the use of suitable correlations developed for pipes may be justified [55]. Blakebrough et al. studied the heat transfer characteristics of systems with microorganisms in an external loop airlift reactor and reported an increase in the rate of heat transfer [56], In an analytical study, Kawase and Kumagai [57] invoked the similarity between gas sparged pneumatic bioreactors and turbulent natural convection to develop a semi-theoretical framework for the prediction of Nusselt number in bubble columns and airlift reactors the predictions were in fair agreement with the limited experimental results [7,58] for polymer solutions and particulate slurries. 

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