Assessment of hydrodynamics in a novel bench-scale wall-cooled packed bioreactor under abiotic conditions

Publication date: 1 November 2019Source: Chemical Engineering Journal, Volume 375Author(s): Gerardo A. Gómez-Ramos, Carlos O. Castillo-Araiza, Sergio Huerta-Ochoa, Moises Couder-García, Arely Prado-BarragánAbstractAn adequate description of the velocity field is of utmost importance in the rational design of wall-cooled packed bioreactors applied to solid-state fermentation. This contribution assessed the hydrodynamics under abiotic conditions in a novel bench-scale wall-cooled tray bioreactor packed with moistened particles of agroindustrial waste. The work, in particular, aimed at determining hydrodynamic descriptors under operating conditions of industrial interest: wall temperatures of 25–45 °C, controlled moisture content of 6–60% and specific volumetric flow rates of 1.25–62.50 Lair.kgs–1.min−1. A two-zone momentum model was developed, allowing the description of velocity profiles and the characterisation of viscous and inertial resistances due to the interaction between the solid and fluid in the core and wall regions of the packed tray. The core region used Blake-Kozeny and Burke-Plummer approaches, and the wall region used a pseudo-boundary layer approach to describe velocity profiles. The two-zone model was submitted to regression analyses, and hydrodynamic parameters were estimated, exhibiting statistical significance and phenomenological consistency. The two-zone model reduced computing time in describing the same velocity profiles by 3000–3600...
Source: Chemical Engineering Journal - Category: Chemistry Source Type: research
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