Experiment No.

Determination of overall volumetric mass transfer coefficient of oxygen (𝐾𝐿 𝑎)

Objective: To determine the overall volumetric mass transfer coefficient of oxygen (𝐾𝐿 𝑎) from
gas phase to liquid phase in cell free media using simple dynamic method

Introduction: In the model system used for the experiment to determine 𝐾𝐿 𝑎 in water i.e., in
the case where no reaction is taking place (without microorganism), the following simplifications
are valid:
• Oxygen uptake rate (OUR=𝑞𝑂2 𝑋) = 0 because there is no O2 sink in the system
• Only data for oxygen transportation rate [OTR=𝐾𝐿 𝑎(𝐶𝐿∗ − 𝐶𝐿 )] will be considered in the
following equation:

𝑑𝐶𝐿
= 𝑂𝑇𝑅 − 𝑂𝑈𝑅 = 𝐾𝐿 𝑎(𝐶𝐿∗ − 𝐶𝐿 ) − 𝑞𝑂2 𝑋 = 𝐾𝐿 𝑎(𝐶𝐿∗ − 𝐶𝐿 )
𝑑𝑡

Where, 𝑞𝑂2 is the specific oxygen uptake rate, X is biomass density, 𝐶𝐿∗ is the saturation dissolved
oxygen concentration and 𝐶𝐿 is the dissolved oxygen concentration at any time t.

Solving the above differential equation with a initial concertation 𝐶𝐿𝑜 (at 𝑡0 ) results in equation:
𝐶𝐿∗ − 𝐶𝐿𝑜
ln ( ∗ ) = 𝐾𝐿 𝑎(𝑡 − 𝑡0 )
𝐶𝐿 − 𝐶𝐿

The concentration 𝐶𝐿𝑜 can be achieved by flushing nitrogen in the system. At time 𝑡0 the
degassing with nitrogen is stopped and from time 𝑡0 there is constant aeration.

To determine the 𝐾𝐿 𝑎 value by the dynamic method, short bursts of measurement with an
electrode are necessary so that measurement time with the electrode has no influence on the value
of 𝐾𝐿 𝑎.

Media and materials:

Normal water is used as the medium. Aeration is provided by an aeration system below the stirrer.
Compressed air or nitrogen to be used for aeration or degassing the system. The fermenter is
thermostatically controlled.
Procedure:

Day 1:
1. Calibrate the dissolved oxygen (DO) probe according to the manufacturers’ instruction
2. Set the temperature of the fermenter to 30 °C
3. Set the probe to measure the percent DO level and allow the probe to reach the
temperature of the fermenter.
4. Switch on and set data collector to measure every 5 seconds.
5. Deoxygenate by stripping with nitrogen
6. Nitrogen was replaced by air, and the dissolved oxygen concentration in the liquid was
measured until equilibrium was reached.
7. Perform the experiments with 1.0 L of medium (water) at different agitator speed (400,
700, 1000 rpm for odd groups and 500, 800, 1100 rpm for even groups) and at 1 vvm air
sparging rate.
8. Perform the experiments with 1.0 L of medium (water) at specified agitator speed (1000
rpm for odd groups and 1100 rpm for even groups) and at 0.5 vvm air sparging rate

Day 2:
1. Perform the experiments at a gas flow rates of 0.75 vvm with specified agitator speed
(1000 rpm for odd groups and 1100 rpm for even groups)

Task Required:
1. Calculation of 𝐾𝐿 𝑎 as a function of agitator speed and various gas flow rates. 𝐾𝐿 𝑎 can be
𝐶𝐿∗ −𝐶𝐿𝑜
calculated by plotting ln ( ) 𝑣𝑠 𝑡
𝐶𝐿∗ −𝐶𝐿
2. Plot 𝐾𝐿 𝑎 as a function of agitator speed (rpm) with various gas flow rates (vvm)
 Table-1

Time (s) Dissolved oxygen (% of saturation air)

1 vvm 0.75 vvm 0.5 vvm
400 rpm 700 rpm 1000 rpm 1000 rpm 1000 rpm
(for odd groups) (for odd groups) (for odd groups) (for odd groups) (for odd groups)

500 rpm 800 rpm 1100 rpm 1100 rpm 1100 rpm
(for even groups) (for even groups) (for even groups) (for even groups) (for even groups)
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
55
60
65
70
75
80
85
90
95
100
105
110
 Table-2

Time (s) 𝐶𝐿∗ − 𝐶𝐿𝑜

ln ( ∗ )
𝐶𝐿 − 𝐶𝐿
1 vvm 0.75 vvm 0.5 vvm
300 rpm 600 rpm 1000 rpm 1000 rpm 1000 rpm
(for odd groups) (for odd groups) (for odd groups) (for odd groups) (for odd groups)

400 rpm 700 rpm 1100 rpm 1100 rpm 1100 rpm
(for even groups) (for even groups) (for even groups) (for even groups) (for even groups)
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
55
60
65
70
75
80
85
90
95
100
105
110
 Table-3

𝐾𝐿 𝑎 (s-1)
1 vvm 0.75 vvm 0.5 vvm
300 rpm 600 rpm 1000 rpm 1000 rpm 1000 rpm
(for odd groups) (for odd groups) (for odd groups) (for odd groups) (for odd groups)

400 rpm 700 rpm 1100 rpm 1100 rpm 1100 rpm
(for even groups) (for even groups) (for even groups) (for even groups) (for even groups)

Graph-1
Graph-2