QUESTION Develop the design equation and mass balance for batch reactor, fed batch reactor (FBR),

Continuous Stirred Tank Reactor (CSTR), Plug Flow Reactor (PFR) with respect cell or substrate. Solution: Introduction to Bioreactor From kinetic studies, we arrive at rate equation which tells us how fast a reaction proceeds by converting the reactants to produce the products, and the dependence of the rate of reaction on the concentration of the reactants. A differential equation for rate expression can be expressed as, ( )

Where, Ni is number of moles of component i, dNi/dt indicates the rate of change of Ni with time, in a reactor of volume V. Therefore, ri will have units of mol/(unit vol.)/(unit time). The general mass balance equation for reactor design equation is as shown below, ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )

If any component is forming in the reactor, it is taken place of the second term in the RHS with a negative sign. Let us consider an ideal design of bioreactor for figure below,

Product leaves Reactant enters Bioreactor Unreacted reactant leaves

Reactant accumulates

Reactant disappears by reaction

Therefore, the general material balance in bioreactor will be, ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )

(a) Design Equation For Batch Reactor For a batch reactor, there is no in flow and out flow which means the reactant flow for inlet and outlet will be zero. Whatever is produced is accumulated inside the reactor at constant volume.

Batch Bioreactor

Reactant accumulates of A

Reactant disappears of A by reaction

NA0 = Initial number of moles of A or substract NA = Number of moles of A present at time, t V = Volume of the reactor CA0 = Initial concentration of A or substract CA = Concentration of A at time, t rA = Reaction rate of disappearance of A XA = Conversion factor Therefore,

(2)

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(3)

( By rearrange equation (4), equation (1) become, ( By substituting equation (3) to equation (5), (

Where, (- rA) indicates the rate of conversion or depletion of A. Equation (6) can be called as the design equation in differential form for a batch reactor. However, we can write the design equation in the form of integral form,

Equation (7) had shown the time that required achieving the conversion XA. If the density of the fluid remains constant, or the volume is constant, it can be taken out of the integral sign, therefore, equation (7) will become equation (8)

Equation (8) had shown the time required for a certain amount of conversion to take place. Normally, in a batch reactor, the reaction proceeds as time increases, or until the equilibrium had reached.

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(b) Design Equation For Fed Batch Reactor For a batch reactor, there is only an inflow but no outflow which means the reactant flow for outlet will be zero. Whatever is produced is accumulated inside the reactor at changing of volume, this leading to a change in reaction volume (V) with time. The feed flow is intermittent leading to fluctuating concentration inside the vessel. The mass balance equation is given as

Substrate Inlet, Fi , Si

Volume, V Substrate, S

Product, P Cells, X

Fed Batch Bioreactor

Reactant accumulates

Reactant disappears of subtract by reaction

Since, volume is changing with time, therefore we include it in the rate of accumulation of component. ( V = Volume of the reactor Si = Inlet concentration S = Concentration of A at time, t rs = Reaction rate of disappearance of A Fi = Inlet Flowrate Therefore, ( ) Page | 3 ) ( ) ( )

By rearrange equation (3), ( Multiply V on both side since reaction volume, ( Next, for the inlet flow, ( Multiply S on both side of the equation, ( ) ) ) )

Substitute equation (8) and equation (4) into equation (2), ( ) ( ) ( )

Equation (9) is the general substrate balance for the fed batch reactor. Consider the rate of cell growth with a single limiting substrate given by (Bailey and Ollis, 1986; Fogler,2006),

Where rg is the rate of cell growth per unit volume, X is the cell mass, and is the specific growth rate, which is well described by Monod equation,

The rate of product formation per unit volume rp can be expressed as,

Where the product Yield coefficient YP/X is defined as,

Therefore, the individual component balance will be,

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Therefore, equation (15) is the design equation for fed batch reactor in the differential form.

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(c) Design Equation For Continuous Stirred Tank Reactor (CSTR) CSTR is one of the flow reactors. There is continuous inflow of reactants and continuous outflow of products after reaction is over. The flow reaction system calls for the need for defining term of space time and space velocity. Reaction time, in CSTR is the time required to process one reactor volume of feed measured at specific conditions.

Where, Fi is the molar feed rate of substrate. Space velocity can be defined as the number of reactor volumes of feed at specified condition which can be treated in a unit time.

For a CSTR, we assumed that inlet and outlet flow rates are equal (F). Hence the reactant volume is constant. The concentration of the outgoing fluid (S) is assumed to be that of the concentration of the fluid inside the vessel. There will not be any accumulation of reactants or products in the continuous stirred tank reactor. Therefore, the fourth term in the general mass balance equation will be zero.

Substrate Inlet, Fi , Si

Volume, V Substrate, S

Product, P Cells, X

Outlet, F, S

Continuous Stirred Tank Reactor Bioreactor Where, V = Volume of the reactor Si = Inlet concentration S = Outlet Concentration Fi = Inlet Flowrate F = Outlet Flowrate Xs = Conversion for the substrate rs = Reaction rate of disappearance of A

Reactant disappears of subtract by reaction

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Therefore, equation (1) become,

Conversion of substrate by reaction (in mol/time)

Thus,

or

Where, is average residence time in a fully mixed flow reactor. In the above equation, generally, rs stands for reaction rate at exit conditions, since the exit composition from the CSTR is the same as that in the reactor. (Si S) is also called conversion. The reaction residence time is given as,

or

The flow rate F can be estimated from the annual production, and the reactor volume can be determined from above equation for a proposed conversion. Equation (7) or (8) is considered as the design equation for the CSTR.

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(d) Design Equation For Plug-Flow Reactor (PFR) PFR is also one of the flow reactors. There is continuous inflow of reactants and continuous outflow of products after reaction is over. The flow reaction system calls for the need for defining term of space time and space velocity. Reaction time, reactor volume of feed measured at specific conditions. in PFR is the time required to process one

Where, Fi is the molar feed rate of substrate. Space velocity can be defined as the number of reactor volumes of feed at specified condition which can be treated in a unit time.

The plug flow reactor or tubular flow reactor as in figure below with the notation of flow parameters into and out of a small differential element of PFR.

PFR Bioreactor Substrate Inlet, Si, F , Xs

Volume, V Substrate, S Product, P Cells, X

Outlet Flow, Si + dSi, F + dF , Xs + dXs

Where,

V = Volume of the reactor Si = Inlet concentration S = Outlet Concentration Fi = Inlet Flowrate F = Outlet Flowrate Xs = Conversion for the substrate rs = Reaction rate of disappearance of A

Let us consider first three terms in above equation (1) for the element volume of reactor, dV. Molar flow rate of reactant into the element = F Page | 8

Molar flow rate of reactant out of the element = F + dF Disappearance of reactant in the element by reaction = (-rs)(dV) Therefore, equation (1) become, ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )

On simplification, we get,

From equation (6), we have,

Or

From equation (5),

On integration, it yields,

Or

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Conversion,

Or

Which on differentiation will gives,

Hence, the above equation (12), on replacement, become,

Or

We can write the residence time in the form of concentration, By combining equation (7) and equation (15), yields,

Equation (18) and equation (16) or equation (17) is the design equation for plug flow reactor (PFR).

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