Mixing in liquid-impelled loop reactors.
The liquid-impelled loop reactor is a new column-type bioreactor. The design of this device is based on the principle of the air-lift loop reactor. In the external-loop configuration used in this work, descending perfluorochemical drops bring about circulation of the continuous aqueous phase. Mixing of this continuous phase is characterized per section of the reactor. Axial-dispersion coefficients for the tube with two-phase flow are determined and correlated with the energy dissipation in the tube. Comparisons with similar systems such as bubble columns and air-lift loop reactors are made. Overall mixing parameters are derived and used for calculation of the number of circulations needed to achieve a certain degree of mixing. The hydrodynamic model from previous work is tested for the reactor configurations of this work. It can be useful to calculate circulation times.
Van Sonsbeek
H M
HM
Food and Bioprocess Engineering Group, Department of Food Science, Agricultural University Wageningen, EV Wageningen, The Netherlands.
Van Der Tuin
S P
SP
Tramper
J
J