Bioreactors continuous stirred tank reactor

Figure 11.9 Different arrangements and modes of operation for membrane bioreactors Continuous Stirred Tank Reactor (CSTR) with recirculation arrangement (a), dead-end cell (b), tubular with entrapped enzyme (c).

Laska ME, Cooney CL. (2002) Bioreactors, continuous stirred-tank reactors. In FUckinger MC, Drew SW, editors. Encyclopedia of Bioprocess Technology, John Wiley Sons, Inc., New York, USA. p 353-371. 

The production of substances that preserve the food from contamination or from oxidation is another important field of membrane bioreactor. For example, the production of high amounts of propionic acid, commonly used as antifungal substance, was carried out by a continuous stirred-tank reactor associated with ultrafiltration cell recycle and a nanofiltration membrane [51] or the production of gluconic acid by the use of glucose oxidase in a bioreactor using P E S membranes [52]. Lactic acid is widely used as an acidulant, flavor additive, and preservative in the food, pharmaceutical, leather, and textile industries. As an intermediate product in mammalian metabolism, L( +) lactic acid is more important in the food industry than the D(—) isomer. The performance of an improved fermentation system, that is, a membrane cell-recycle bioreactors MCRB was studied [53, 54], the maximum productivity of 31.5 g/Lh was recorded, 10 times greater than the counterpart of the batch-fed fermentation [54]. 

Two fundamentally different types of bioreactor setups can be distinguished. In the first type of reactors, MTBE-degradation occurs by bacteria in suspension in continuously stirred tank reactors (CSTR) (Table 6). An obvious advantage of this setup is the optimal mixing of MTBE-degrading biomass, contaminants and oxygen, reducing transport Hmitations to a minimum. However, specialized adaptations are required to prevent washout of biomass from the reactor. Three different methods exist. 

To choose the adequate bioreactor design for continuous PHA production, kinetics for both biomass and PHA production by the microbial strain should be considered. In the case of PHA production directly associated with microbial growth as it is found in Alcaligenes latus DSM 1122 on sucrose [128], or for Pseudomonasputida ATCC 29147 on fatty acids [97,98], a one-step continuous process using a continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) is a viable solution. 

A similar approach, starting with a material balance, can be used for the characterization of bioreactors operating in the continuous mode. Thus, for a perfectly mixed reactor, or continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR), where the term of accumulation is zero at steady state and the liquid composition is uniform, the material balance for substrate A is given by Equation 7.7 ... 

In a continuous stirred tank reactor, a cmstant flow of reacliai substrates is fed to the reactor, where the immobilized lipase is suspoided in an agitated vessel. The main character of this type of reactitm is that Ihae is no tanperature or concentration gradients due to efficient mixing that promotes intimate contact of the reaction mixture with the immobilized lipase. Like batchwise reactors, immobilized lipase can be retained within the bioreactor by filtration. This is known to have lower construction cost. However, it requires larger volumes than a PER to achieve the same reaction. Commonly, a microfilter is provided at the bioreactor outlet to prevent immobilized lipase from leaving the reactor. 

Various bioreactors (batch stirred tank reactors, continuous packed bed, stirred tank, fluidized bed and membrane) have been used with varying efficiencies. Generally, stirred tank reactors are found to be less efficient than continuous ones (Macrae, 1985b Sawamura, 1988) due to... 

Added productivity of lactic acid fermentations can be achieved by combining continuous systems with mechanisms that allow higher bacterial cell concentrationsResearch is concentrated on two mechanisms (1) membrane recycle bioreactors (MRBs) and (2) immobilized cell systems (ICSs). The MRB consists of a continuous stirred-tank reactor in a semiclosed loop with a hollow fiber, tubular, flat, or cross flow membrane unit that allows cell and lactic acid separation and recycle of cells back to the bioreactor. The results of a number of laboratory studies with various MRB systems demonstrate the effect of high cell concentrations on raising lactic acid productivity (Litchfield 1996). O Table 1.12 lists examples of published results employing various MRB systems. 

The bioreactor has been introduced in general terms in the previous section. In this section the basic bioreactor concepts, i.e., the batch, the fed-batch, the continuous-flow stirred-tank reactor (CSTR), the cascade of CSTRs and the plug-flow reactor, will be described. 

Similar behavior to that of the nonisothermal CSTR system will be observed in an isothermal bioreactor with nonmonotonic enzyme reaction, called a continuous stirred tank enzyme reactor (Enzyme CSTR). Figure 3.27 gives a diagram. 

Eor an ideal continuous stirred-tank bioreactor (CSTB), the concentrations of the various components of the outlet stream are assumed to be the same as the concentrations in the bioreactor. Continuous operation of a bioreactor can increase the productivity of the reactor significantly by eliminating the downtime and the ease of automation. 

These equations remain valid for bioreactors provided that one employs a suitable mathematical representation of the rate of disappearance of the substrate that is the limiting reagent. In Illustration 13.3 we employ an alternative form of the design equation to determine the holding time necessary to achieve a specified degree of conversion in a strictly batch bioreactor. This illustrative example also indicates how overall yield coefficients are employed as a vehicle for taking the stoichiometry of the reaction into account. Illustration 13.4 describes how one type of semibatch operation (the fed-batch mode) can be exploited to combine the potential advantages of batch and continuous flow operation of a stirred-tank reactor. 

There were published several reports about the hyoscyamine production by hairy roots grown in bioreactors [65]. As fare as we are aware there is not enough information about the scopolamine and particularly about 6P-hydroxyhyoscyamine production in these systems. Among them, Hilton and Rhodes [67] studied the hyoscyamine production by D. stramonium in a modified 14 L stirred tank reactor operated imder different conditions in batch and continuous mode. The 35 day culture produced 5.2 mg/g DW and 3.3 mg/g DW of hyoscyamine in Gamborg B5/2 and B5 medium, respectively [67]. B. Candida hairy roots produced a slightly higher amoimt of hyoscyamine. Specifically, the process carried out in the modified stirred tank produced 7.0 1.3 mg/g DW of hyoscyamine at the harvest time (Table 2) [28]. Hilton and Rhodes [67] also reported a low release of the alkaloid into the culture medium. The biomass productivity attained in this work was 0.24 g DW/l/d which is very similar to that reported here for B. Candida hairy root processes (Table 2). 

Steady-state flow reactors, with a constant supply of reactants and continuous removal of products, can be operated as both a continuous stirred-tank bioreactor (CSTB) and as a plug flow bioreactor (PFB). It is possible to have different configurations of the membrane bioreactor where the biocatalyst is immobilized in the fractionated membrane support (Katoh and Yoshida, 2010). In Fig. 1.6 the scheme of a CSMB in which the biocatalyst is immobilized on the surface of the membrane beads is presented. The biocatalyst immobilized in the porous structure of a fractioned membrane can also be operated in CSMB. For example, two configurations are shown in Fig. 1.7 (a) for flat-sheet and (b) for spherical porous structures, respectively. Such structures could also be adopted for PFB, where a bed of membrane support with the immobilized biocatalyst could be utilized, in either a fixed or fluid configuration. 

Until now, bioreactors of various types have been developed. These include loop-fluidized bed [14], spin filter, continuously stirred turbine, hollow fiber, stirred tank, airlift, rotating drum, and photo bioreactors [1]. Bioreactor modifications include the substitution of a marine impeller in place of a flat-bladed turbine, and the use of a single, large, flat paddle or blade, and a newly designed membrane stirrer for bubble-free aeration [13, 15-18]. Kim et al. [19] developed a hybrid reactor with a cell-lift impeller and a sintered stainless steel sparger for Thalictrum rugosum cell cultures, and cell densities of up to 31 g L1 were obtained by perfusion without any problems with mixing or loss of cell viability the specific berberine productivity was comparable to that in shake flasks. Su and Humphrey [20] conducted a perfusion cultivation in a stirred tank bio-... 

A third type of bioremediation involves the use of a bioreactor in a dedicated treatment area. The contaminated soil is excavated, slurried with water, and treated in the reactor. The horizontal drum and airlift-type reactors are usually operated in the batch mode but may also be operated in a continuous mode. Because there is considerable control over the operating conditions, treatment often is quick and effective. Contaminated groundwater and effluent also may be treated in either fixed-film or stirred-tank bioreactors. However, bioreactors are still in the developmental stages and further research is required to optimize their efficiency and cost effectiveness (Wilson and Jones 1993). 

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