Problem Sheet 2

Bioreaction Engineering

Emma Emanuelsson

1.
Pseudomonas methylotrophus is used to produce a single cell protein from methanol in a
1000 m3 fermentor. The medium contains 4% (w/v) methanol and inoculum of 0.01% (w/v).
Calculate the Methanol and Biomass concentration as gL-1.
2.
The specific death constants for Bacillus subtilis at four different temperatures are shown in
Table 1. Estimate the time required to kill 99% of Bacillus subtilis spores at 100C.
R=
-1
-1
30
-1
8.3144 J K gmol and A=6.5210 min .
85C

90C

110C

120C

kd = 0.012 min-1

kd = 0.032 min-1

kd = 1.60 min-1

kd = 9.61 min-1

3.
A batch culture of Pseudomonas is started by inoculating 12g of cells into a 100 L fermenter
containing 10 g L-1 glucose. max = 0.9 h-1 and Yx/s = 0.575 g g-1.
List the assumptions required to estimate the time required to reach stationary phase
Estimate the time required to reach stationary phase.
Pseudomonas has a mass doubling time of 2.4h when grown on Acetate. The saturation
constants is 1.3g/L and the cell yield is 0.46 g cell/g acetate. If we operate a continuous
stirred tank reactor with a feed of 38g/L calculate:
(i) The cell concentration when the dilution rate is one half of the maximum growth rate
(ii) The maximum dilution rate
(iii) The substrate concentration when the dilution rate is 0.8*Dmax
(iv) The cell productivity at 0.8*Dmax
(v) The cells may also be grown in batch culture at their maximum specific growth rate,
using an inoculum of 5% and a process turnaround of 6h. Which reactor configuration
would you recommend (Batch or CSTR) to give the same final cell concentration as
obtained when using the CSTR at 0.8*Dmax.
4.
Lactobacillus is cultured in a fermenter to produce lactic acid:
Time (h)
0
10
20
30
-1
Conc. (gL ) 2
5
14
40

40
78

50
110

Is it correct to assume that the reaction rate is 1st order in regards to the lactic acid
concentration? Calculate the reaction rate constant and at what time the product concentration
reaches 100 gL-1.

Problem Sheet 2

Bioreaction Engineering

Emma Emanuelsson

5.
A fungal culture is being used for the production of an antibiotic. The fungal cells are grown
aerobically in batch culture with glucose as the growth limiting substrate. The cell and the
substrate concentrations are measured as a function of culture time:
Time
Cell Conc
Glucose Conc
Antibiotic conc.
(h)
(gL-1)
(gL-1)
(gL-1)
0
0.2
25.0
0
5
0.25
24.8
0
10
0.45
24.3
3.4
20
2.1
20.7
17
25
4.4
15.7
34
30
9.4
5.2
85
31
10.9
1.7
93.5
32
11.6
0.2
98.6
35
11.7
0
105.4
37
11.8
0
108.8
40
11.8
0
110.5
Determine:
max
Yx/s
YP/s
Overall and Maximum productivity as applied to a fermentation process.
6.
Glucose is converted to an antibiotic in a batch fermenter. The fermenter is started by adding
50g of cells into 500L of a medium containing 12 g/L of glucose. . Calculate the time
required to achieve 90% substrate conversion. max = 0.3 h-1 and Yx/s = 0.6 g g-1 , YP/X = 7.7 g g1
, qp= 3.4 g g-1 h-1 m= 2.2 g g-1 h-1
7.
An aerobic bacteria growing on ethanol gave the following results in a batch fermentation
run:
Time (h)
0
9
16
23
30
34
36
40
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)

Biomass (X) (gL-1)

1.25
2.45
5.1
10.5
22
33
37.5
41

Ethanol (S) (gL-1)

100
97
90.4
76.9
48.1
20.6
9.38
0.63

Draw a diagram showing the different growth stages in a batch reactor

Determine the specific growth rate
Calculate the apparent growth yield (Ys/x)
What maximum cell concentration would one expect if 150g of ethanol were used
with the same size inoculum.
2

Problem Sheet 2

Bioreaction Engineering

Emma Emanuelsson