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Improvement of chemostat performance via nonlinear oscillations

Part 1: Operation strategy

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Abstract

A novel operation strategy employing self-generated oscillation to imrpove the performances of bioreactors is proposed and applied to a model system consisting of two continuous stirredtank bioreators (CSTBs) connected in series. It is demonstrated via computation that the performance of the system (in terms of timeaveraged cell concentration) can be greatly enhanced by adopting the proposed strategy. The process concept presented and the results obtained in this paper are expected to have significant implications beyond the bioprocessing industry.

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Abbreviations

D hr−1 :

dilution rate (F/V)

F 1hr−1 :

volumetric flow rate

f hr−1 :

oscillation frequency

K s gl−1 :

Monod constant, Eq. (5)

K′ s :

dimensionless Ks, K s/S0,Eq. (11)

S gl−1 :

limiting substrate concentration

¯S gl−1 :

time-averaged S

s :

dimensionless S, Eq. (14)

¯s :

time-averaged s

t h:

time

V l:

total (combined) bioreactor volume

V i 1:

volume of ith biorector

X gl−1 :

cell mass concentration

X gl−1 :

time-averaged X

x :

dimensionless X, Eq. (14)

¯x :

time-averaged x

Y :

Y x/s(cell mass yield coefficient)

y :

dimensionless Y, Eq. (12)

α :

constant in yield coefficient, Eq. (6)

β lg−1 :

constant in yield coefficient, Eq. (6)

β′ :

dimensionless β, βS 0,Eq. (12)

Δs :

amplitude of oscillatory s

Δx :

amplitude of oscillatory x

θ :

dimensionless time, Eq. (13)

μ hr−1 :

specific growth rate

μ m hr−1 :

maximum specific growth rate

μ′ m :

dimensionless μ m, μmτ1,Eq. (11)

v :

dimensionless μ, Eq. (11)

τ hr:

mean residence time (V/F)

0 :

feed stream

i (1 or 2):

ith bioreactor in series

* :

initial conditions

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Yang, R.Y.K., Su, J. Improvement of chemostat performance via nonlinear oscillations. Bioprocess Eng. 9, 97–102 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00369037

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