BIO REACTOR DESIGN –ANALYSIS

INTRODUCTION:
Extensive application of bioprocesses has generated an expansion
in biotechnological knowledge, generated by the application of
biochemical engineering to biotechnology. Microorganisms produce
alcohols and acetone that are used in industrial processes. The
knowledge related to industrial microbiology has been revolutionized
by the ability of genetically engineered cells to make many new
products. Genetic engineering and gene mounting has been developed
to enhance industrial fermentation. Ultimately, these bioprocesses
have become a new way of developing commercial products. The
biochemical engineering and bio technology demonstrates the
application of biological sciences in engineering with theoretical and
practical aspects to enhance understanding of knowledge in this field.
BIOCHEMICAL ENGINEERING:
Biochemical
engineering embraces aspects of bio chemistry, cell and molecular
biology, bioorganic and bioinorganic chemistry and has its core
discipline of chemical engineering Biochemical engineering is a
branch of chemical engineering or biological engineering that mainly
deals with the design and construction of unit processes that involve
biological organisms or molecules. Biochemical engineering is often
taught as a supplementary option to chemical engineering or
biological engineering due to the similarities in both the background
subject curriculum and problem-solving techniques used by both
professions. Its applications are used in the food, feed,
pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and water treatment industries
BIO REACTOR:
Bio reactor is the center of all biochemical
processing. Bio reactor is a vessel in which is Carried out a chemical
process which involves organisms or biologically active substances
derived from such organisms. By combining our knowledge of the
kinetics of biological reactions with the material and energy balances,
we can, at least in principle, design and analyze the behavior of the bio
reactor. In practice this procedure is made more complex because of the
nature of the biological catalyst, which may have time- varying
properties and may show complex kinetic patterns, and the nature of the
fermentation broth which may exhibit striking deviations from ideality,
resulting in complex flow patterns, and mass and heat transfer
characteristics. In this we shall initially consider various simplifications
that permit the essential features of bioreactor design to become
apparent. This involves the use of simplified kinetic models and the
assumption of behavior for both liquid and gas phases in the bio reactor.
By considering several idealized bioreactors, mathematically tractable
design solutions can be obtained. The deviations from ideality can then
be incorporated by modifying these solutions.
Most biological reactors are multiphase systems. The
biocatalyst may be present as a solid phase, for example as an
immobilized enzyme or as an individual cell. Typically, gas is sparged
into microbial reactors to supply oxygen and remove carbon dioxide.
The hydrodynamic behavior of each phase needs to be considered. There
are several types of batch reactor operation we shall consider to date, we
have only considered batch reactors, with no flows in or out of the
system. In the idealized case, batch reactors have a homogeneous
continuous phase; the liquid phase is well –mixed and of uniform
temperature and composition. There is no spatial variations in reactant
or product concentrations. The gas phase in aerobic batch reactor may be
well-mixed or may be modelled by plug flow. The kinetics of the
reaction are considered are key in determining the bioreactor behavior.
These features will be illustrated in the following sections.
We shall consider continuous bioreactors of
two types, well-mixed continuous stirred tank
Reactors (CSTR s) and plug flow or tubular reactors. Semi- continuous
operation is also common for industrial bio reactor and is referred to as
fed batch operation. In this situation, the reactor is initially operated as a
batch reactor and when a nutrient (usually the carbon source) has been
consumed, it is fed to the reactor following a predetermined protocol
(hence “fed batch”).
A SIMPLE BIO REACTOR
OPERATION AND WORKING:
Water from the recovery wells (1)
enters the feed tank, where it is diluted with treated water existing
from the bioreactor. The mixed water stream (2) is pumped to the
bottom of the bioreactor, where it flows upward through the sand
medium which is colonized by micro organism. The micro organisms
consume the VOC’s in the water, converting them to CO2 and H2O
and using dissolved O2 in the process. Treated water with a
decreased oxygen content (3) flows from the bioreactor through an
oxygenator where it is re oxygenated to near saturated levels
(typically around 8 mg/l). Most of the treated water is recycled to the
feed tank to dilute the incoming well water. Amount equal to the
incoming water (4) is discharged from the system. The treated water
typically has effluent VOC concentrations that are near or below
detection limits.
CLASSIFICATION OF BIO REACTORS:
Bioreactors are classified based on the
following criteria:
1 Type & form of biocatalyst: free cells in submerged cultures;
carried bound or immobilized cells/enzymes; retention or
recirculation of biocatalyst.
2Configuration: tank, column.
3Energy input & aeration: liquid phase; gas phase; combined.
4Hydro dynamics: perfect mixing; partial mixing; no mixing.
5Mode of operation: batch; continuous; fed-batch.
BATCH REACTORS:
An ideal well-mixed batch reactor is
spatially homogeneous as a result of intensive agitation. With
appropriate temperature and pH control, these parameters can also be
maintained at uniform values throughout the reactor. As we seen
earlier, mass and energy balance equations can be written around the
batch reactor for the species of interest.
CONTINUOUS STIRRED TANK BIO REACTORS:
The Chemostat: the ideal CSTR
The use of a continuous stirred tank
reactor to extend the duration of culture of microbes was developed in
the 1950s by novick and szilard and monod. The realization that a
CSTR could be used to maintain microbial growth at a steady state
value, which could be varied from any growth rate up to the
maximum u max, was an important advance, as it broke the
traditional thinking at the time that stable microbial growth was only
possible at the maximum rate, corresponding to the minimum
doubling time found in batch cultures. Subsequently, the use of a well
–mixed continuous microbial reactor to study microbial physiology
led to important advances in understanding the cell cycle, metabolic
regulation and microbial product formation.
The configuration of a typical well – mixed continuous
reactor is shown. Agitation may be provided by an impeller or by the
motion of imparted to the liquid phase by rising gas bubbles. In
aerobic systems, supply of oxygen to the organism generally occurs
via air sparging. In the ideal case, the liquid phase is completely
mixed, i.e.., the liquid phase composition is uniform throughout the
vessel. Similarly, temperature is maintained constant and uniform by
circulation of cooling water through coils in the vessel or in a jacket
surrounding the vessel. Typically the pH of the culture medium is
controlled by the addition of acid or base.
CHEMOSTAT IN SERIES:
In batch cultures, the individual
phases of growth result from the changing physiology of the cell;
each phase is dependent on the one preceding it. On the other hand, in
continuous culture, the physiological state is no longer determined by
the one preceding it; rather it is controlled by the dilution rate. Thus
culture has no history. In situations where the culture must pass
 through some physiological state in order to produce the desired
product, a combination of reactor types will provide the optimal
reactor configuration, defined as the smallest reactor volume for a
specified degree of product conservation. In the situations where the
optimal rate of product formation may occur at a different
temperature or pH from that of growth, two or more stirred tank
reactors operated in series permit growth and product formation
conditions to be optimized in each reactor. When mixed substractes
are employed , the preferential substrate is consumed first. The use of
two CSTRs in series enables the preferred substrate to be completely
consumed in the first reactor and the second substrate can be
consumed in the second reactor, minimizing the required reactor
volume.
PLUG FLOW AND PACKED BED
BIO REACTORS:
The opposite extreme of the well – mixed
reactor is the plug flow reactor , where fluid moves along a pipe or
channel such that there is negligible mixing in the direction of the
flow , but the fluid is well-mixed in the radial direction . Such
reactors are common in the chemical industry , but, for reasons we
shall see shortly, are infrequently employed for cell growth. However,
they are used frequently for immobilized cells and enzyme reactions.
Growth isomerization to fructose, a key step in the manufacture of
high fructose corn syrup, is an important example of a commercial
process carried out in a packed bed immobilized enzyme reactor .

PLUG FLOW REACTOR PACKED BED REACTOR

FED BATCH REACTORS:
In many industries situations, such
as the production of bakers yeast and antibiotics, reactor are operated in
a semi –continuous fashion, with a substrate feed stream. Fed batch
operation permits the substrate concentration to be maintained at some
predetermined level. In the bakers yeast production, for example ,an
excess of glucose results in the onset of fermentation and ethanol
production, which reduces the cell yield. By slowly supplying glucose at
a rate such that it can be completely consumed by the yeast, the residual
glucose concentration is maintained at approximately zero and
maximum conservation of substrate to cells is obtained. Similarly, in
penicillin production , it is common to first obtain a high cell
concentration in the reactor during the exponential growth phase, during
which little penicillin is produced , and then supply carbon and nitrogen
to the culture for antibiotic production at a rate which matches the bio
synthetic and maintenance requirements of the organism. During this
substrate feeding , the reactor volume increases . at some point , part of
the reactoerr volume is withdrawn and the process is repeated .the broth
withdrawn contains product at high concentration, which has advantages
in product recovery. This type of operation is an intermediate mode
between batch and continuous operation, increasing the duration of
batch fermentation and the overall reactor productivity. We shall analyze
the fed batch process with constant feed rates and the repeated fed batch
operation.
BIO REACTOR DESIGN:
1 Bioreactor design is a relatively complex
engineering task. Under optimum conditions, the microorganisms
or cells are able to perform their desired function with 100 percent
rate of success. The bioreactor's environmental conditions like gas
(i.e., air, oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide) flow rates, temperature,
pH and dissolved oxygen levels, and agitation speed/circulation
rate need to be closely monitored and controlled.
2Most industrial bioreactor manufacturers use vessels, sensors and a
control system networked together.
3Fouling can harm the overall sterility and efficiency of the
bioreactor, especially the heat exchangers. To avoid it, the
bioreactor must be easily cleaned and as smooth as possible
(therefore the round shape).
4A heat exchanger is needed to maintain the bioprocess at a constant
 temperature
5fermentation is a major source of heat, therefore in most cases
bioreactors need refrigeration. They can be refrigerated with an
external jacket or, for very large vessels, with internal coils.
6In an aerobic process, optimal oxygen transfer is perhaps the most
difficult task to accomplish. Oxygen is poorly soluble in water--
even less in fermentation broths--and is relatively scarce in air
(20.8%). Oxygen transfer is usually helped by agitation, which is
also needed to mix nutrients and to keep the fermentation
homogeneous. There are, however, limits to the speed of agitation,
due both to high power consumption (which is proportional to the
cube of the speed of the electric motor) and to the damage to
organisms caused by excessive tip speed bio

BIO REACTOR
LIMITATIONS ANDCONCERNS:
1 Heavy metals are not treated by this method.
2 Low temperatures can decrease bio degradation rates.
3 Air pollution controls may be necessary.
4 Residuals may require treatment or disposal.
5 At the other extreme, very high concentration may be toxic to micro
organisms.
6 With explosive materials or chlorinated solvents, some
intermediary degradation products are more toxic than the original
contaminants
APPLICABILITY:
1 Bio reactors are used to treat volatile organic
compounds (voc) and fuel hydro carbons.
1The process is less effective for pesticides.
2Intermediate by products were also degraded.
CONCLUSIONS:
 1Landfills can be successfully operated as bioreactors through proper
design and operations.
2Bioreactor technology has many benefits including:
 Accelerated and more complete decomposition of waste
 Associated settlement/capacity gain
 Enhanced gas generation for LFGTE projects
 Less leachate to treat
 Less contamination potential after landfill is closed
 Less long-term risk
 Reduced post-closure care requirements
3Bioreactors need additional capital and operations costs.
.
REFERENCES:
1. ^ International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry.
"bioreactor". Compendium of Chemical Terminology Internet
edition.
2. ^ Eva L. Decker und Ralf Reski (2008): Current achievements in
the production of complex biopharmaceuticals with moss
bioreactor. Bioprocess and Biosystems Engineering 31, 3-9 [1]
,Carlson, Kimberly Sue

Document By
SANTOSH BHARADWAJ REDDY
Email: help@matlabcodes.com
1.Engineeringpapers.blogspot.com
2.www.matlabcodes.com
3.microcontroller-project-codes.blogspot.com
4.microcontroller-library.blogspot.com
5.arduino-projects-here.blogspot.com
6.labview-projects.blogspot.com
7.java-basics.blogspot.com
8.itsnanoworld.blogspot.com
More Papers,Projects and Presentations available on
above sites.