Modelling of a hybrid culture system with a stationary layer of liquid perfluorochemical applied as oxygen carrier

Abstract

A mathematical model of a hybrid culture system supported with a stationary layer of liquid perfluorochemical (PFC) as a source of O 2 for cells which grow in the aqueous phase of culture medium has been developed and discussed. The two-substrate Monod kinetics without inhibition effects, i.e. the Tsao-Hanson equation, has been assumed to characterise the biomass growth. The Damköhler number which relates the growth rate to the mass transfer effects has been used to appraise the regime (i.e. diffusion-limited or kinetics) of the whole process. The proposed model predicted accurately previously published data on the submerged batch cultures of Nicotiana tabacum BY-2 heterotrophic cells performed in a culture system supported with a stationary layer of hydrophobic perfluorodecalin as a liquid O 2 carrier. Estimated values of the parameters of the model showed that the process proceeded in the kinetics regime and the growth kinetics, not the effects of the mass transfer between aqueous phase and liquid PFC, had essential influence on the growth of biomass.

Oxygen Transfer Effects in a Two-Phase System of an Aqueous Phase and Liquid Perfluorochemical Subjected to Continuous Wave-Assisted Agitation in Disposable Bioreactor

“…The lack of chemical bonds between molecules of oxygen and PFC allows the efficient release of gas from layered or dispersed PFCs into the aqueous phase. Due to the physicochemical properties exhibited by liquid PFCs (i.e., immiscibility with aqueous media), some investigators recommend using them as efficient liquid gas carriers in bioprocesses with biomass of animal or plant cells/tissues performed in various bioreactor systems, as an additional liquid layer at the bottom of a bioreactor vessel [8][9][10], or as dispersed droplets of utilized PFC [11][12][13] in intensively agitated systems.…”