An airlift reactor with double net draft tubes was developed. A sparger was located between the two draft tubes. The draft tubes had a significant effect on breaking bubbles into smaller ones. The assessment of the reactor performance was based on gas holdup, mixing time, and volumetric mass transfer coefficient. The proposed reactor had higher gas holdup and volumetric mass transfer coefficient, and lower mixing time in comparison with those of the bubble column. Application of the proposed reactor to fermentation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae demonstrated that the cultivation time was significantly shortened.
A pilot scale airlift reactor with multiple net draft tubes was developed. The reactor, 29 cm in diameter and 300 cm height, had four modules of double net draft tubes. Bubble size, bubble number, gas holdup, and volumetric mass transfer coef®cient were measured under different super®cial air velocities. The air velocity had little effect on bubble size but had signi®cant in¯uence on bubble number. A bubble column was also investigated for comparison. The airlift reactor had a higher gas holdup and volumetric mass transfer coef®cient than those in the bubble column. The draft tubes in the airlift reactor substantially improved the reactor performance.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.