Effects of Surface Active Agents on Hydrodynamics and Mass Transfer in a Packed Bed Airlift Bioreacto

In this research, the effects of surface active agents on the hydrodynamic parameters and mass transfer characteristics in an internal loop airlift bioreactor with packed were investigated. Overall gas holdup, liquid circulation velocity and mixing time as the hydrodynamic parameters and volumetric mass transfer coefficient as the mass transfer characteristics were considered. Twenty five cylindrical packings were horizontally set inside the reactor. The experiments were carried out with two various surface active agent solutions containing cationic and non-ionic surfactants at a concentration of 5 ppm at the aeration velocities of 0.19-0.97 cm/s under ambient conditions (atmospheric pressure and temperature of 25 °C). The packings installation reduced the liquid circulation velocity, gas holdup, and oxygen volumetric mass transfer coefficient, while increased the mixing time compared with the unpacked column. Furthermore, bubble diameter was reduced around 30%, while they got the same diameter in the systems containing the surface active agents. It was concluded that the mixing time and gas holdup increased, whereas oxygen mass transfer coefficient and liquid circulation velocity decreased in the presence of surface active agents