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Tank Reactor (tank + reactor)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Chemistry48%
Life Sciences34%
Polymers and Materials Science10%
Engineering6%

Kinds of Tank Reactor

  • continuous stirred tank reactor
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  • stirred tank reactor
    		•

    Selected Abstracts

    Carbon Monoxide Mass Transfer for Syngas Fermentation in a Stirred Tank Reactor with Dual Impeller Configurations

    BIOTECHNOLOGY PROGRESS, Issue 3 2007
    Andrew J. Ungerman
    This study compares the power demand and gas-liquid volumetric mass transfer coefficient, kLa, in a stirred tank reactor (STR) (T = 0.211 m) using different impeller designs and schemes in a carbon monoxide-water system, which is applicable to synthesis gas (syngas) fermentation. Eleven different impeller schemes were tested over a range of operating conditions typically associated with the "after large cavity" region (ALC) of a Rushton-type turbine (D/T = 0.35). It is found that the dual Rushton-type impeller scheme exhibits the highest volumetric mass transfer rates for all operating conditions; however, it also displays the lowest mass transfer performance (defined as the volumetric mass transfer coefficient per unit power input) for all conditions due to its high power consumption. Dual impeller schemes with an axial flow impeller as the top impeller show improved mass transfer rates without dramatic increases in power draw. At high gas flow rates, dual impeller schemes with a lower concave impeller have kLa values similar to those of the Rushton-type dual impeller schemes but show improved mass transfer performance. It is believed that the mass transfer performance can be further enhanced for the bottom concave impeller schemes by operating at conditions beyond the ALC region defined for Rushton-type impellers because the concave impeller can handle higher gas flow rates prior to flooding. [source]

    A Study on the Mixing Behavior of Different Density Liquids in a Stirred Tank Reactor by Passive and Reactive Tracers

    CHEMIE-INGENIEUR-TECHNIK (CIT), Issue 8 2005
    G. Hessel Dipl.-Phys.
    No abstract is available for this article. [source]

    Transient Behavior and Gelation of Free Radical Polymerizations in Continuous Stirred Tank Reactors

    MACROMOLECULAR THEORY AND SIMULATIONS, Issue 4 2005
    Rolando C. S. Dias
    Abstract Summary: Using the authors' previously developed method for the general kinetic analysis of non-linear irreversible polymerizations, the simulation of free radical homogeneous polymerization systems with terminal branching and chain transfer to polymer has been carried out for continuous stirred tank reactors. Its improved accuracy on the numerical evaluation of generating functions has been exploited in order to perform their numerical inversion and chain length distributions could also be estimated with or without the presence of gel. A comparison with alternative techniques emphasizing the effect of their simplifying assumptions on the accuracy of calculations is also presented. Predicted CLD before gelation (t,=,1 h), after gelation (t,=,15 h, steady state), and close to gel point for a free radical polymerization with transfer to polymer in a CSTR with ,,=,60 min. [source]

    Important Factors in Bubble Coalescence Modeling in Stirred Tank Reactors

    THE CANADIAN JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING, Issue 3-4 2003
    Rahman Sudiyo
    Abstract Bubble coalescence has been studied in a 2.6 L stirred tank. Instantaneous velocity fields were measured using PIV and corresponding turbulent kinetic energy, dissipation rate, various length and timescales were estimated. All of these data, combined with data of local gas hold-up, bubble size and coalescence rate obtained with shadowgraph were used to assess bubble coalescence at different positions. Results show that bubble coalescence takes place mostly near the tank wall, especially on the leeward side of baffles. The most important factors affecting coalescence are gas hold-up, fluctuation of liquid velocity, different rise velocities of bubbles, and trapping of bubbles in stationary and turbulent eddies. On a étudié la coalescence des bulles dans un réservoir agité de 2,6 L. Les champs de vitesse instantanée ont été mesurés par vélocimétrie à imagerie de particules (PIV), et l'énergie cinétique turbulente correspondante, la vitesse de dissipation et diverses échelles de longueur et de temps ont été estimés. Toutes ces données, combinées à des données de rétention de gaz locale, de taille des bulles et de vitesse de coalescence obtenues avec le projecteur de profils, ont permis d'évaluer la coalescence des bulles à différentes positions. Les résultats montrent que la coalescence des bulles se produit principalement près de la paroi du réservoir, spécialement sur la face aval des chicanes. Les principaux facteurs qui influent la coalescence sont la rétention de gaz, la fluctuation de la vitesse de liquide, les différentes vitesses d'ascension des bulles et le piégeage des bulles dans des tourbillons stationnaires et turbulents. [source]

    Gas Hold-Up in Stirred Tank Reactors in the Presence of Inorganic Electrolytes

    THE CANADIAN JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING, Issue 5 2002
    Archis A. Yawalkar
    Abstract Gas hold-up (,G) in air-aqueous electrolyte solutions in stirred tank reactors (STR) is correlated using a relative gas dispersion parameter, N/Ncd and a surface tension factor (STF), (c/z)(d,/dc)2. For electrolyte concentration below transition concentration (ct) a single correlation in the form of ,G = f(N/Ncd, vvm, STF) shows good agreement with gas hold-up data over a wide range of system and operating conditions. Above ct no effect of STF on gas hold-up is observed and the correlation obtained is of the form ,G = f(N/Ncd, vvm). Data available in the literature on large STR show good fit with the proposed correlation. On a corrélé la rétention de gaz (,G) dans un mélange air-solutions d'électrolytes aqueuses dans des réacteurs à réservoir agité (RRA) à l'aide d'un paramètre de dispersion de gaz, N/Ncd, et d'un facteur de tension de surface (FTS), (c/z)(d,/dc)2. Pour une concentration d'électrolytes en-dessous de la concentration de transition (ct), une corrélation simple sous la forme ,G = f(N/Ncd, vvm, STF) montre un bon accord avec les données de rétention de gaz pour une vaste gamme de conditions de systèmes et de fonctionnement. Au-dessus de ct, on observe aucun effet du STF sur la rétention de gaz et la corrélation obtenue est de la forme ,G = f(N/Ncd, vvm). Les données disponibles dans la littérature scientifique sur des RRA de grande taille montrent un bon accord avec la corrélation proposée. [source]

    Surfactant Effects on Aeration Performance of Stirred Tank Reactors

    CHEMICAL ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY (CET), Issue 10 2008
    M. Martinov
    Abstract The effect of surfactants on aeration performance in stirred tank reactors (STR) at high rates of foaming is studied. The volumetric oxygen transfer coefficient (kLa) and foaming activity estimated as foaming height (Hf) were determined. Biotechnology of lipopeptide biosurfactants from aerobic organisms, e.g., Bacillus subtilis were addressed. Using model solutions of known foam-generating properties, high-molecular weight surfactin and low-molecular weight sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS), as well as impellers of different types, with flat and fluid-foil blades, clues on the concentration dependence of STR oxygen transfer and foaming as well as options for foam reduction in the presence of biosurfactant were sought. In response to a two-fold decrease of surface tension by surfactin, kLa values decreased up to 30,% but remained within the range expected for the mixing system in water; the experiments with SDS showing stronger dependence on surfactant concentration and surface tension. Mixing of surfactant media by a standard six-blade disc turbine (RT) imposed rate limitations on gassing. A low-shear impeller Narcissus (NS) could be used to avoid bulk foam outflow, while preserving kLa values that remained unchanged. The ,power per unit volume' correlation of kLa in stirred tanks is tested in the presence of surfactin. [source]

    Acclimation Strategy of a Biohydrogen Producing Population in a Continuous-Flow Reactor with Carbohydrate Fermentation

    ENGINEERING IN LIFE SCIENCES (ELECTRONIC), Issue 4 2006
    Q. Ren
    Abstract Poor startup of biological hydrogen production systems can cause an ineffective hydrogen production rate and poor biomass growth at a high hydraulic retention time (HRT), or cause a prolonged period of acclimation. In this paper a new startup strategy was developed in order to improve the enrichment of the hydrogen-producing population and the efficiency of hydrogen production. A continuously-stirred tank reactor (CSTR) and molasses were used to evaluate the hydrogen productivity of the sewage sludge microflora at a temperature of 35,°C. The experimental results indicated that the feed to microorganism ratio (F/M ratio) was a key parameter for the enrichment of hydrogen producing sludge in a continuous-flow reactor. When the initial biomass was inoculated with 6.24,g of volatile suspended solids (VSS)/L, an HRT of 6,h, an initial organic loading rate (OLR) of 7.0,kg chemical oxygen demand (COD)/(m3,×,d) and an feed to microorganism ratio (F/M) ratio of about 2,3,g COD/(g of volatile suspended solids (VSS) per day) were maintained during startup. Under these conditions, a hydrogen producing population at an equilibrium state could be established within 30,days. The main liquid fermentation products were acetate and ethanol. Biogas was composed of H2 and CO2. The hydrogen content in the biogas amounted to 47.5,%. The average hydrogen yield was 2.01,mol/mol hexose consumed. It was also observed that a special hydrogen producing population was formed when this startup strategy was used. It is supposed that the population may have had some special metabolic pathways to produce hydrogen along with ethanol as the main fermentation products. [source]

    Long-term stability of biological denitrification process for high strength nitrate removal from wastewater of uranium industry

    ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRESS & SUSTAINABLE ENERGY, Issue 3 2008
    Prashant M. Biradar
    Abstract The aim of the present study was to biologically denitrify uranium nitrate raffinate (UNR) from nuclear industry, which is a principle source of high strength nitrate waste. To denitrify the high nitrate waste, a pilot-scale continuous stirred tank reactor was designed with two inbuilt settlers. Acclimatization of mixed culture with synthetic waste was carried out prior to the inoculation of the acclimatized sludge into the reactor. Initial concentration of nitrate in uranium raffinate was 77,000 mg/L NO3. It was diluted and used as a feed to the reactor. Concentration of nitrate in feed was increased gradually from 10,000 mg/L NO3 to 40,000 mg/L NO3 with hydraulic retention time (HRT) maintained at 34.4 h. Complete denitrification of 40,000 mg/L NO3 was achieved in a specified HRT. To facilitate understanding of the treatablity and long-term stability of biological denitrification of UNR, study was carried out for 211 days by periodical perturbation of the system. Furthermore, to find the volume ratio of reactor to settler required for the full-scale design of the denitrification plant, settling of acclimatized sludge was carried out. © 2008 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 2008 [source]

    Experimental and modeling study of the oxidation of benzene

    INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL KINETICS, Issue 10 2003
    I. Da Costa
    This paper describes an experimental and modeling study of the oxidation of benzene. The low-temperature oxidation was studied in a continuous flow stirred tank reactor with carbon-containing products analyzed by gas chromatography. The following experimental conditions were used: 923 K, 1 atm, fuel equivalence ratios from 1.9 to 3.6, concentrations of benzene from 4 to 4.5%, and residence times ranging from 1 to 10 s corresponding to benzene conversion yields from 6 to 45%. The ignition delays of benzene,oxygen,argon mixtures with fuel equivalence ratios from 1 to 3 were measured behind shock waves. Reflected shock waves permitted to obtain temperatures from 1230 to 1970 K and pressures from 6.5 to 9.5 atm. A detailed mechanism has been proposed and allows us to reproduce satisfactorily our experimental results, as well as some data of the literature obtained in other conditions, such as in a plug flow reactor or in a laminar premixed flame. The main reaction paths have been determined for the four series of measurements by sensitivity and flux analyses. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Chem Kinet 35: 503,524, 2003 [source]

    Nonlinear Laguerre,Volterra observer-controller and its application to process control

    INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ROBUST AND NONLINEAR CONTROL, Issue 4 2010
    Hai-Tao Zhang
    Abstract By expanding each kernel using the orthonormal Laguerre series, a Volterra functional series is used to represent the input/output relation of a nonlinear dynamic system. With the feedback of the modeling error, we design a novel nonlinear state observer, based on which an output feedback controller is derived for both the stabilization and tracking problems. The stability of the closed-loop system is analyzed theoretically. The algorithm is effectively applied on the continuous stirring tank reactor and chemical reactor temperature control system. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

    Beta-glucan production by Botryosphaeria rhodina in different bench-top bioreactors

    JOURNAL OF APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 5 2004
    L. Selbmann
    Abstract Aims:, Evaluation of the technical feasibility of transferring , -glucan production by Botryosphaeria rhodina DABAC-P82 from shaken flasks to bench-top bioreactors. Methods and Results:, Three different bioreactors were used: 3 l stirred tank reactor (STR-1) equipped with two different six-blade turbines; STR as above but equipped with a three-blade marine propeller plus draft-tube (STR-2); 2 l air-lift column reactor (ALR) equipped with an external loop. STR-1, tested at three different stirrer speeds (300, 500 and 700 rev min,1) appeared to be less suitable for , -glucan production by the fungus, being maximum production (19·4 g l,1), productivity (0·42 g l,1 h,1) and yield (0·48 g g,1 of glucose consumed) markedly lower than those obtained in shaken culture (29·7 g l,1, 1·23 g l,1 h,1 and 0·61 g g,1, respectively). Better performances were obtained with both STR-2 and ALR. With the latter, in particular, the increase of production was accompanied by reduced fermentation time (25·7 g l,1 after only 22 h); productivity and yield were highest (1·17 g l,1 h,1 and 0·62 g g,1 of glucose consumed, respectively). Conclusion:, Using an air-lift reactor with external loop, the scaling up from shaken flasks to bench-top bioreactor of the , -glucan production by B. rhodina DABAC-P82 is technically feasible. Significance and Impact of the Study:, Although culture conditions are still to be optimized, the results obtained using the ARL are highly promising. [source]

    Multiparameter models for performance analysis of UASB reactors

    JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL TECHNOLOGY & BIOTECHNOLOGY, Issue 8 2008
    C M Narayanan
    Abstract BACKGROUND: UASB (upflow anaerobic sludge blanket) bioreactors have the distinct advantage that they do not demand support particles and provide a high rate of bioconversion even with high strength feedstocks. Although apparently simple in construction, the performance analysis of these reactors involves a high degree of mathematical complexity. Most simulation models reported in the literature are rudimentary in nature as they involve gross approximations. In the present paper, two multiparameter simulation packages are presented that make no simplifying assumptions and hence are more rigorous in nature. RESULTS: The first package assumes the sludge bed to be a plug-flow reactor (PFR) and the sludge blanket to be an ideal continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR). The second package equates the reactor to a plug flow dispersion reactor (PFDR), the axial dispersion coefficient however being a function of axial distance. The three phase nature of the sludge blanket has been considered and the variation of gas velocity in the axial direction has been taken into account. Three different kinetic equations have been considered. Resistance to diffusion of substrate into sludge granules has been accounted for by incorporating appropriately defined effectiveness factors. The applicability of simulation packages developed has been ascertained by comparing with real-life data collected from industrial/pilot plant/laboratory UASB reactors. The maximum deviation observed is ± 15%. CONCLUSIONS: Although the software packages developed have high computational load, their applicability has been successfully ascertained and they may be recommended for design and installation of industrial UASB reactors and also for the rating of existing installations. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry [source]

    Aerobic biological treatment of waste- waters containing dichloromethane

    JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL TECHNOLOGY & BIOTECHNOLOGY, Issue 9 2007
    Sandra C Moura
    Abstract BACKGROUND: Volatilization has been advanced as one of the predominant phenomena contributing to volatile organic carbon emissions from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). In this study, strategies for minimizing such air stripping losses when treating a liquid stream containing dichloromethane (DCM), aiming at decreasing the overall emission inventory from WWTPs, were investigated. RESULTS: System R1, consisting of a continuous flow stirred tank reactor (CSTR) treating a liquid stream containing DCM at a concentration of 12 mmol dm,3 presented a biodegradation efficiency (BE) of 68%, based upon chloride release, with 10% of measurable losses, mainly due to volatilization, and 22% of unmeasurable losses. System R2 introduced operational designs aiming at decreasing DCM volatilization. In Experiment R2.1, a biotrickling filter, through which the air stripped from the CSTR was driven, was introduced leading to a reduction from 10% to 7% on the measurable losses. In Experiment R2.2, the air stripped from the CSTR was recirculated at a flow rate of 2.4 dm3 h,1 through the reactor medium before entering the biotrickling filter. The BE was improved from 69% to 82% and the losses associated with air stripping were successfully reduced to 2%. The proposed design, including air recirculation and the biotrickling filter, increased the ratio between the biodegradation rate and the volatilization rate from 7 to 41. CONCLUSIONS: Recirculation of the gaseous effluent through the reactor medium, which allowed for higher residence time within the bioreactor, was shown to be a successful strategy for improving the treatment process, thus minimizing DCM volatilization losses. Copyright © 2007 Society of Chemical Industry [source]

    Urease immobilization on an ion-exchange textile for urea hydrolysis

    JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL TECHNOLOGY & BIOTECHNOLOGY, Issue 6 2006
    Kyeong-Ho Yeon
    Abstract Ion-exchange textiles are used as organic supports for urease immobilization with the aim of developing reactive fibrous materials able to promote urea removal. A non-woven, polypropylene-based cation-exchange textile was prepared using UV-induced graft polymerization. Urease was covalently immobilized onto the cation-exchange textile using three different coupling agents: N -(3-dimethylaminopropyl)- N,-ethylcarbodiimide hydrochloride (EDC), N -cyclohexyl- N,-(b -[N -methylmorpholino]ethyl)carbodiimide p -toluenesulfonate (CMC), and glutaraldehyde (GA). The immobilized biocatalyst was characterized by means of FT-IR spectrometry, SEM micrographs, dependence of the enzyme activity on pH and temperature, and according to the kinetic constants of the free and immobilized ureases. The biotextile prepared with EDC in the presence of N -hydroxysuccinimide performs best. The optimum pH was 7.2 for the free urease and 7.6 for the immobilized ureases. The reactivity was maximal at 45 °C for free urease, 50 °C for biotextiles prepared using EDC or CMC, and 55 °C for biotextiles prepared with GA. The activation energy for the immobilized ureases was 4.73,5.67 kcal mol,1, which is somewhat higher than 4.3 kcal mol,1 for free urease. The urea conversion for a continuous-flow immobilized urease reactor is nearly as good as a continuously stirred tank reactor having a much longer residence time, suggesting that the packed bed reactor had sufficient diffusive mixing and residence time to reach nearly optimal results. Urease immobilized on a biotextile using EDC has good storage and operational stability. Copyright © 2006 Society of Chemical Industry [source]

    Preparation of sorbitol from D -glucose hydrogenation in gas,liquid,solid three-phase flow airlift loop reactor

    JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL TECHNOLOGY & BIOTECHNOLOGY, Issue 4 2004
    Jian-Ping Wen
    Abstract A new process for D -glucose hydrogenation in 50 wt% aqueous solution, into sorbitol in a 1.5 m3 gas,liquid,solid three-phase flow airlift loop reactor (ALR) over Raney Nickel catalysts has been developed. Five main factors affecting the reaction time and molar yield to sorbitol, including reaction temperature (TR), reaction pressure (PR), pH, hydrogen gas flowrate (Qg) and content of active hydrogen, were investigated and optimized. The average reaction time and molar yield were 70 min and 98.6% under the optimum operating conditions, respectively. The efficiencies of preparation of sorbitol between the gas,liquid,solid three-phase flow ALR and stirred tank reactor (STR) under the same operating conditions were compared. Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry [source]

    Biotransformation of benzaldehyde to L -phenylacetylcarbinol (L -PAC) by Torulaspora delbrueckii and conversion to ephedrine by microwave radiation

    JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL TECHNOLOGY & BIOTECHNOLOGY, Issue 2 2002
    Vilas B Shukla
    Abstract In a 5,dm3 stirred tank reactor, bioconversion of 30,g benzaldehyde by cells of Torulaspora delbrueckii yielded 22.9,g of pure L -phenylacetylcarbinol (L -PAC). Facile functional group transformation of 4.5,g of L -PAC to 2-(methylimino)-1-phenyl-1-propanol by exposure to microwave irradiation for 9,min resulted in 2.48,g of product. Conversion of 4.8,g of 2-(methylimino)-1-phenyl-1-propanol to 3.11,g of ephedrine was achieved by exposure to microwaves in a reaction time of 10,min. The identity of all the products was confirmed by 1H NMR and FT-IR analysis. © 2002 Society of Chemical Industry [source]

    Recovery of transition metal complex by reverse flow adsorption

    AICHE JOURNAL, Issue 1 2008
    Jeroen Dunnewijk
    Abstract Reverse flow adsorption (RFA) is a technique with a definite potential to prevent the leaching of a homogenous catalyst. In this work, we model an RFA-process for a continuous ideally stirred tank reactor with an adsorption bed upstream and another one downstream from the reactor. The model parameters concerning adsorption equilibrium and kinetics are taken from previous experimental studies on CoCl2 adsorption on polymer-bound trifenylfosfine. We use this model to study the concentration profiles of CoCl2 in the adsorption beds during consecutive adsorption,desorption cycles. The model calculations show that the concentration profile eventually reaches a fixed position after a number of adsorption,desorption cycles, even though internal mass transfer was a limiting factor. Hence, the transition metal is kept within the system boundaries, which is an essential requirement for the application of RFA. © 2007 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2008 [source]

    Recursive estimation in constrained nonlinear dynamical systems

    AICHE JOURNAL, Issue 3 2005
    Pramod Vachhani
    In any modern chemical plant or refinery, process operation and the quality of product depend on the reliability of data used for process monitoring and control. The task of improving the quality of data to be consistent with material and energy balances is called reconciliation. Because chemical processes often operate dynamically in nonlinear regimes, techniques such as extended-Kalman filter (EKF) and nonlinear dynamic data reconciliation (NDDR) have been developed for reconciliation. There are various issues that arise with the use of either of these techniques. EKF cannot handle inequality or equality constraints, whereas the NDDR has high computational cost. Therefore, a more efficient and robust method is required for reconciling process measurements and estimating parameters involved in nonlinear dynamic processes. Two solution techniques are presented: recursive nonlinear dynamic data reconciliation (RNDDR) and a combined predictor,corrector optimization (CPCO) method for efficient state and parameter estimation in nonlinear systems. The proposed approaches combine the efficiency of EKF and the ability of NDDR to handle algebraic inequality and equality constraints. Moreover, the CPCO technique allows deterministic parameter variation, thus relaxing another restriction of EKF where the parameter changes are modeled through a discrete stochastic equation. The proposed techniques are compared against the EKF and the NDDR formulations through simulation studies on a continuous stirred tank reactor and a polymerization reactor. In general, the RNDDR performs as well as the two traditional approaches, whereas the CPCO formulation provides more accurate results than RNDDR at a marginal increase in computational cost. © 2005 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 51: 946,959, 2005 [source]

    Principal-component analysis of multiscale data for process monitoring and fault diagnosis

    AICHE JOURNAL, Issue 11 2004
    Seongkyu Yoon
    Abstract An approach is presented to multivariate statistical process control (MSPC) for process monitoring and fault diagnosis based on principal-component analysis (PCA) models of multiscale data. Process measurements, representing the cumulative effects of many underlying process phenomena, are decomposed by applying multiresolution analysis (MRA) by wavelet transformations. The decomposed process measurements are rearranged according to their scales, and PCA is applied to these multiscale data to capture process variable correlations occurring at different scales. Choosing an orthonormal mother wavelet allows each principal component to be a function of the process variables at only one scale level. The proposed method is discussed in the context of other multiscale approaches, and illustrated in detail using simulated data from a continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) system. A major contribution of the paper is to extend fault isolation methods based on contribution plots to multiscale approaches. In particular, once a fault is detected, the contributions of the variations at each scale to the fault are computed. These scale contributions can be very helpful in isolating faults that occur mainly at a single scale. For those scales having large contributions to the fault, one can further compute the variable contributions to those scales, thereby making fault diagnosis much easier. A comparison study is done through Monte Carlo simulation. The proposed method can enhance fault detection and isolation (FDI) performance when the frequency content of a fault effect is confined to a narrow-frequency band. However, when the fault frequency content is not localized, the multiscale approaches perform very comparably to the standard single-scale approaches, and offer no real advantage. © 2004 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 50: 2891,2903, 2004 [source]

    Xylitol bioproduction from wheat straw: hemicellulose hydrolysis and hydrolyzate fermentation

    JOURNAL OF THE SCIENCE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE, Issue 9 2006
    Larissa Canilha
    Abstract A 22 central composite design with five center points was performed to estimate the effects of temperature (120, 130 and 140 °C) and acid loading (100, 150 and 200 mg g,1) on the yield of monomeric xylose recovery from wheat straw hemicellulose (YS/RM). Under the best hydrolysis condition (140 °C and 200 mg g,1), a YS/RM of 0.26 g g,1 was achieved. After vacuum concentration and detoxification by pH alteration and active charcoal adsorption, the hydrolyzate was used as source of xylose for xylitol bioproduction in a stirred tank reactor. A xylitol production of 30.8 g L,1 was achieved after 54 h,1 of fermentation, resulting in a productivity (QP) of 0.57 g L,1 h,1 and bioconversion yield (YP/S) of 0.88 g g,1. The maximum specific rates of xylose consumption and xylitol production were 0.19 and 0.15 g g,1 h,1, respectively. Copyright © 2006 Society of Chemical Industry [source]

    Cloud-Point Pressure Curves of Ethene/Poly[ethylene- co -((meth)acrylic acid)] Mixtures

    MACROMOLECULAR CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS, Issue 4 2003
    Michael Buback
    Abstract Ethene-methacrylic acid (MAA) and ethene-acrylic acid (AA) copolymers of narrow polydispersity and high chemical homogeneity have been synthesized at acid unit copolymer contents up to 9 mol-% within a continuously operated stirred tank reactor at overall monomer conversions of about 2%. Cloud-point pressures (CPPs) of mixtures of 3 wt.-% copolymer in ethene (E) have been measured in an optical high-pressure cell at pressures and temperatures up to 3,000 bar and 260,°C, respectively. The CPP weakly increases with acid copolymer content up to about 3.5 mol-%. Toward higher acid contents, the CPP is strongly enhanced, in particular at the lower edge of the experimental temperature range at around 200,°C. This increase in CPP is more pronounced for the AA than for the MAA systems. The data suggest that hydrogen-bonding interactions are operative in the pressurized E/poly(E- co -(M)AA) mixtures at temperatures of 260,°C and perhaps even above. E-AA and E-MAA copolymers with acid contents of about 5.6 mol-% have also been completely methyl-esterified to yield the associated methyl esters. The CPPs of the resulting E-methyl acrylate and E-methyl methacrylate copolymers in mixtures with E are significantly below the CPPs of the corresponding E/poly(E- co -(M)AA) systems. Cloud-point pressure vs temperature curves for several E/poly(E- co -methacrylic acid) systems. The subscripts denote copolymer content in mol-%. A cloud-point pressure curve for E/polyethylene (PE) is included for comparison. [source]

    Fundamental Molecular Weight Distribution of RAFT Polymers

    MACROMOLECULAR REACTION ENGINEERING, Issue 5 2008
    Hidetaka Tobita
    Abstract The molecular weight distribution formed in an ideal reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT)-mediated radical polymerization is considered theoretically. In this polymerization, the addition to the RAFT agent is reversible, and the active period on the same chain could be repeated, via the two-armed intermediate, with probability 1/2. This possible repetition is accounted for by introducing a new concept, the overall active/dormant periods. With this method, the apparent functional form of the molecular weight distribution (MWD) reduces to that proposed for the ideal living radical polymers (Tobita, Macromol. Theory Simul. 2006, 15, 12). The repetition results in a broader MWD than without the repetition. The formulae for the average molecular weights formed in batch and a continuous stirred tank reactor are also presented. [source]

    Online identification of nonlinear multivariable processes using self-generating RBF neural networks

    ASIAN JOURNAL OF CONTROL, Issue 5 2010
    Karim Salahshoor
    Abstract This paper addresses the problem of online model identification for multivariable processes with nonlinear and time-varying dynamic characteristics. For this purpose, two online multivariable identification approaches with self-organizing neural network model structures will be presented. The two adaptive radial basis function (RBF) neural networks are called as the growing and pruning radial basis function (GAP-RBF) and minimal resource allocation network (MRAN). The resulting identification algorithms start without a predefined model structure and the dynamic model is generated autonomously using the sequential input-output data pairs in real-time applications. The extended Kalman filter (EKF) learning algorithm has been extended for both of the adaptive RBF-based neural network approaches to estimate the free parameters of the identified multivariable model. The unscented Kalman filter (UKF) has been proposed as an alternative learning algorithm to enhance the accuracy and robustness of nonlinear multivariable processes in both the GAP-RBF and MRAN based approaches. In addition, this paper intends to study comparatively the general applicability of the particle filter (PF)-based approaches for the case of non-Gaussian noisy environments. For this purpose, the Unscented Particle Filter (UPF) is employed to be used as alternative to the EKF and UKF for online parameter estimation of self-generating RBF neural networks. The performance of the proposed online identification approaches is evaluated on a highly nonlinear time-varying multivariable non-isothermal continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) benchmark problem. Simulation results demonstrate the good performances of all identification approaches, especially the GAP-RBF approach incorporated with the UKF and UPF learning algorithms. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley and Sons Asia Pte Ltd and Chinese Automatic Control Society [source]

    Evaluation of porous catalytic membranes operated in pore-flow-through mode for hydrogenation of ,-methylstyrene

    ASIA-PACIFIC JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING, Issue 1 2010
    Daniel Urbanczyk
    Abstract A study of the catalytic membrane contactor operated in pore-flow-through (PFT) mode was carried out for hydrogenation of ,-methylstyrene (AMS) to cumene over palladium as a test reaction. By applying a metalorganic chemical vapour deposition method, the catalyst was deposited as nanoparticles on the pore walls of porous alumina capillaries. Experiments were performed with up to six individual Pd-activated capillaries in a laboratory-scale reactor set-up and with capillary bundles in a small pilot plant. The influence of the operating parameters on the reactor performance such as temperature (303,333 K), hydrogen pressure (5,10 bar), transmembrane flux (up to 200 l·m,2·min,1), pore size of the capillaries (0.6,3.0 µm) and concentration of AMS in n-heptane used as solvent was investigated. Moreover, the performance of the PFT-system was compared to that of conventional reactors (e.g. fixed bed, trickle bed, bubble column, stirred tank) and novel reactor designs (catalytic membrane contactor in diffuser mode, monolith reactor) based on published data. It is shown that the PFT principle enables very high activity, comparable with a suspended powder catalyst in a stirred tank reactor and, at the same time, an excellent space time yield. Copyright © 2009 Curtin University of Technology and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

    Nonlinear parametric predictive control.

    ASIA-PACIFIC JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING, Issue 6 2009
    Application to a continuous stirred tank reactor
    Abstract This paper presents a nonlinear model-based controller based on the ideas of parametric predictive control applied to a continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) process unit. Controller design aims at avoiding the complexity of implementation and long computational times associated with conventional NMPC while maintaining the main advantage of taking into account process nonlinearities that are relevant for control. The design of the parametric predictive controller is based on a rather simplified process model having parameters that are instrumental in determining the required changes to the manipulated variables for error reduction. The nonlinear controller is easy to tune and can operate successfully over a wide range of operating conditions. The use of an estimator of unmeasured disturbances and process-model mismatch further enhances the behavior of the controller. Copyright © 2009 Curtin University of Technology and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

    Trichloroethene and cis -1,2-dichloroethene concentration-dependent toxicity model simulates anaerobic dechlorination at high concentrations.

    BIOTECHNOLOGY & BIOENGINEERING, Issue 3 2010
    II: Continuous flow, attached growth reactors
    Abstract A model that was used to describe toxicity from high concentrations of chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons (CAHs) on reductively dechlorinating cultures in batch reactors (Sabalowsky and Semprini (in press)) was extended here to simulate observations in continuous flow suspended and attached growth reactors. The reductively dechlorinating anaerobic Evanite subculture (EV-cDCE) was fed trichloroethene (TCE) and excess electron donor to accumulate cis -1,2-dichloroethene (cDCE) in a continuous flow stirred tank reactor (CFSTR); and an attached growth recirculating packed column (RPC). A concentration-dependent toxicity model used to simulate the results of batch reactors in part I (Sabalowsky and Semprini (in press) Biotechnol Bioeng) also simulated well the observations for the CFSTR and RPC growth modes. The toxicity model incorporates cDCE and TCE toxicity coefficients that directly increase the cell decay coefficient in proportion with cDCE and TCE concentrations. Simulated estimates of the cDCE and TCE toxicity coefficients indicate reductively dechlorinating cells are most sensitive to high concentrations of cDCE and TCE in batch-fed growth, followed by CFSTR, with attached growth being least sensitive. The greater toxicity of TCE than cDCE, and ratio of the modeled toxicity coefficients, agrees with previously proposed models relating toxicity to partitioning in the cell wall (KM/B), proportional to octanol-water partitioning (KOW) coefficients. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2010;107: 540,549. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source]

    Fast dynamic response of the fermentative metabolism of Escherichia coli to aerobic and anaerobic glucose pulses,

    BIOTECHNOLOGY & BIOENGINEERING, Issue 6 2009
    Alvaro R. Lara
    Abstract The response of Escherichia coli cells to transient exposure (step increase) in substrate concentration and anaerobiosis leading to mixed-acid fermentation metabolism was studied in a two-compartment bioreactor system consisting of a stirred tank reactor (STR) connected to a mini-plug-flow reactor (PFR: BioScope, 3.5,mL volume). Such a system can mimic the situation often encountered in large-scale, fed-batch bioreactors. The STR represented the zones of a large-scale bioreactor that are far from the point of substrate addition and that can be considered as glucose limited, whereas the PFR simulated the region close to the point of substrate addition, where glucose concentration is much higher than in the rest of the bioreactor. In addition, oxygen-poor and glucose-rich regions can occur in large-scale bioreactors. The response of E. coli to these large-scale conditions was simulated by continuously pumping E. coli cells from a well stirred, glucose limited, aerated chemostat (D,=,0.1,h,1) into the mini-PFR. A glucose pulse was added at the entrance of the PFR. In the PFR, a total of 11 samples were taken in a time frame of 92,s. In one case aerobicity in the PFR was maintained in order to evaluate the effects of glucose overflow independently of oxygen limitation. Accumulation of acetate and formate was detected after E. coli cells had been exposed for only 2,s to the glucose-rich (aerobic) region in the PFR. In the other case, the glucose pulse was also combined with anaerobiosis in the PFR. Glucose overflow combined with anaerobiosis caused the accumulation of formate, acetate, lactate, ethanol, and succinate, which were also detected as soon as 2,s after of exposure of E. coli cells to the glucose and O2 gradients. This approach (STR-mini-PFR) is useful for a better understanding of the fast dynamic phenomena occurring in large-scale bioreactors and for the design of modified strains with an improved behavior under large-scale conditions. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2009; 104: 1153,1161. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source]

    Power consumption and maximum energy dissipation in a milliliter-scale bioreactor

    BIOTECHNOLOGY PROGRESS, Issue 2 2010
    Ralf Hortsch
    Abstract Mean power consumption and maximum local energy dissipation were measured as function of operating conditions of a milliliter-scale stirred tank bioreactor (V = 12 mL) with a gas-inducing impeller. A standard laboratory-scale stirred tank bioreactor (V = 1,200 mL) with Rushton turbines was used as reference. The measured power characteristics (Newton number as function of Reynolds number) were the same on both scales. The changeover between laminar and turbulent flow regime was observed at a Reynolds number of 3,000 with the gas-inducing stirrer on a milliliter-scale. The Newton number (power number) in the turbulent flow regime was 3.3 on a milliliter-scale, which is close to values reported for six-blade Rushton turbines of standard bioreactors. Maximum local energy dissipation (,max) was measured using a clay/polymer flocculation system. The maximum local energy dissipation in the milliliter-scale stirred tank bioreactor was reduced compared with the laboratory-scale stirred tank at the same mean power input per unit mass (,ø), yielding ,max/,ø , 10 compared with ,max/,ø , 16. Hence, the milliliter-scale stirred tank reactor distributes power more uniformly in the reaction medium. These results are in good agreement with literature data, where a decreasing ,max/,ø with increasing ratio of impeller diameter to reactor diameter is found (d/D = 0.7 compared with d/D = 0.4). Based on these data, impeller speeds can now be easily adjusted to achieve the same maximum local energy dissipation at different scales. This enables a more reliable and robust scale-up of bioprocesses from milliliter-scale to liter-scale reactors. © 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 2010 [source]

    Carbon Monoxide Mass Transfer for Syngas Fermentation in a Stirred Tank Reactor with Dual Impeller Configurations

    BIOTECHNOLOGY PROGRESS, Issue 3 2007
    Andrew J. Ungerman
    This study compares the power demand and gas-liquid volumetric mass transfer coefficient, kLa, in a stirred tank reactor (STR) (T = 0.211 m) using different impeller designs and schemes in a carbon monoxide-water system, which is applicable to synthesis gas (syngas) fermentation. Eleven different impeller schemes were tested over a range of operating conditions typically associated with the "after large cavity" region (ALC) of a Rushton-type turbine (D/T = 0.35). It is found that the dual Rushton-type impeller scheme exhibits the highest volumetric mass transfer rates for all operating conditions; however, it also displays the lowest mass transfer performance (defined as the volumetric mass transfer coefficient per unit power input) for all conditions due to its high power consumption. Dual impeller schemes with an axial flow impeller as the top impeller show improved mass transfer rates without dramatic increases in power draw. At high gas flow rates, dual impeller schemes with a lower concave impeller have kLa values similar to those of the Rushton-type dual impeller schemes but show improved mass transfer performance. It is believed that the mass transfer performance can be further enhanced for the bottom concave impeller schemes by operating at conditions beyond the ALC region defined for Rushton-type impellers because the concave impeller can handle higher gas flow rates prior to flooding. [source]

    Effects of Sulfuric Acid Loading and Residence Time on the Composition of Sugarcane Bagasse Hydrolysate and Its Use as a Source of Xylose for Xylitol Bioproduction

    BIOTECHNOLOGY PROGRESS, Issue 5 2005
    Silvio S. Silva
    A 22 full factorial design was employed to evaluate the effects of sulfuric acid loading and residence time on the composition of sugarcane bagasse hydrolysate obtained in a 250-L reactor. The acid loading and the residence time were varied from 70 to 130 mg acid per gram of dry bagasse and from 10 to 30 min, respectively, while the temperature (121 °C) and the bagasse loading (10%) were kept constant. Both the sulfuric acid loading and the residence time influenced the concentrations of xylose and inhibitors in the hydrolysate. The highest xylose concentration (22.71 g/L) was achieved when using an acid loading of 130 mg/g and a residence time of 30 min. These conditions also led to increased concentrations of inhibiting byproducts in the hydrolysate. All of the hydrolysates were vacuum-concentrated to increase the xylose concentration, detoxified by pH alteration and adsorption into activated charcoal, and used for xylitol bioproduction in a stirred tank reactor. Neither the least (70 mg/g, 10 min) nor the most severe (130 mg/g, 30 min) hydrolysis conditions led to the best xylitol production (37.5 g/L), productivity (0.85 g/L h), and yield (0.78 g/g). [source]