Effect of shear stress on the growth of continuous culture of Synechocystis PCC 6803 in a flat-panel photobioreactor

The effect of hydrodynamic forces generated by air bubbles on cell growth of continuous culture of Synechocystis PCC 6803 was studied in a flat-panel photobioreactor. Keeping all relevant parameters constant enables the optimization of individual parameters, for which a continuous cultivation approach has significant advantages. Continuous culture of Synechocystis PCC 6803 was cultivated under different gas velocities from 0.022 m s^?1 up to 0.128 m s^?1. Based on direct determination of effective growth rate at constant cell densities, cell damage due to shear stress induced by the increasing gas velocity at the sparger was directly observed. A significant decrease of effective growth rate was observed at gas velocity of 0.085 m s^?1 generated at the gas flow rate of 200 ml min^?1, indicating cell damage by shear stress. Optimization of gas volume and the development of an effective aeration system corresponding to a given reactor setup is important to realize a reliable cell growth.     

Gas-Sparged bioreactors for CO2 fixation by Dunaliella tertiolecta

Two kinds of bioreactors, a bubble-column and an air-lift bioreactor, have been designed. The influence of operating conditions such as medium composition, light intensity, carbon dioxide concentration in the flushing gas, culture temperature, and gas flow rate, on photosynthesis of Dunaliella tertiolecta were studied using a chemometrics approach. The bubble-column bioreactor system was shown to be advantageous over the air-life because of a weaker intensity of hydrodynamic stress derived from gas bubble dispersion and culture broth mixing. Optimal conditions for carbon dioxide fixation or maximal growth rate were determined. The effect of hydrodynamic shear forces on the algal wall produced by gas bubbling was identified as one of the most significant factors for algal growth.     

Growth kinetics and lipid production using Chlorella vulgaris in a circulating loop photobioreactor

BACKGROUND: Compared with agriculture, microalgae culture promises to be a novel way of producing lipids for both food consumption and transportation fuel (biodiesel) purposes while using a minimal amount of land area. A circulating loop photobioreactor has been used to study the growth kinetics and lipid yield of Chlorella vulgaris growing on carbon dioxide as the sole source of carbon. RESULTS: Because of high photosynthetic active radiation (PAR) fluxes, C. vulgaris was observed to grow in exponential mode. The highest growth rate achieved was 0.049 h^?1 at the optimum growth conditions of 71.8 mW L^?1 PAR density, 10% CO₂ (v/v) in air and with an applied 8 h dark phase. The microalgae was observed to grow in a Monod fashion with a PAR density saturation coefficient of 2.8 mW L^?1. Light intensity showed the potential to significantly increase lipid yield, which reached a maximum of 30% (by mass) of cell dry weight. CONCLUSION: The circulating loop photobioreactor is a low‐cost bioreactor technology capable of culturing photosynthetic microalgae at high PAR densities and with uniform mixing and lighting. C. vulgaris is able to grow exponentially in this bioreactor and produce lipids at concentrations up to 30% by cell dry weight. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry     

Effect of Inlet Type on Shear Stress and Mixing in an Annular Photobioreactor Involving a Swirling Decaying Flow

Improvement of mixing can lead to an enhancement of photobioreactors productivity, provided that the adverse effect of shear forces is kept below the fragility‐ threshold of cells. Implementation of a swirling decaying flow induced by a tangential inlet in an annular photobioreactor was investigated. The study focused on a compromise solution between the mixing and the resulting shear stress, and various hydrodynamical characteristics were measured for five types of tangential inlets and three Reynolds number values. Comparison with a pseudo‐axial flow induced by a radial inlet indicates that swirling flows are suitable in the particular application of microalgal cultures.     

Biodiesel production from Stichococcus strains at laboratory scale

BACKGROUND: This paper reports the results of an experimental campaign of autotrophic cultures of Stichococcus strains aiming at selecting the most promising strain for biofuel production. The strain selected—S. bacillaris 158/11—was cultivated in 1 L lab‐scale bubble column photobioreactors under fed‐batch and semi‐continuous conditions. A Bold basal medium supplemented with NaNO₃ as nitrogen source was adopted. Tests were carried out at 23 °C, 140 µE m^?2 s^?1, and air flow rate ranging between 0.4 and 4 vvm. Cultures were characterized in terms of pH, concentration of total nitrogen, total organic carbon, total inorganic carbon, biomass, lipid fraction and methyl‐ester distribution of transesterified lipids. RESULTS: S. bacillaris 158/11 proved to be the best strain to produce biodiesel. Methyl‐ester distribution was characterized by a large fraction of methyl palmitate, methyl linolenate, methyl linoleate, and methyl oleate along with phytol. The process photosynthetic efficiency—fraction of available light stored as chemical energy ‐ was about 1.5%. Specific biomass productivity was ～60 mg_DM L^?1 day^?1 under the semi‐continuous conditions tested. Total lipid productivity was 14 mg L^?1 day^?1 at a dilution rate of 0.050 L day^?1. CONCLUSION: S. bacillaris 158/11 is a potential strain for massive microalgae cultures for biofuel production. Higher biomass/total‐lipid productivity could be obtained in sunlight. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry     

Simulation of a Rushton Turbine Mixing Yield Stress Fluids: Application of the Metzner-Otto Concept

The mixing of yield stress fluids is investigated numerically in the laminar regime using a fluid dynamics software package (Fluent). First, we investigate the case of the Couette system where theorical values of the shape factors K_p and K_s can be found. These values lead to a theorical expression of the power P which was successfully compared to numerical values. Next, we studied the case of the Rushton turbine. We studied the influence of position and stirring speed on the local average shear rate γ˙. As expected, we obtained higher values near the turbine. At a fixed position, γ˙ was found proportional to the stirring speed N. We verified that the Metzner-Otto concept remains valid for fluid exhibiting a yield stress and that the Metzner-Otto constant ( K_s ) varies slightly. Comparison between numerical power and those obtained using an average value of Metzner-Otto constant ( K_s = 8.5 ) led to an excellent agreement.     

Control strategy of pH,dissolved oxygen concentration and stirring speed for enhancing β‐poly (malic acid) production by Aureobasidium pullulans ipe‐1

BACKGROUND: β‐poly(malic acid) (PMLA) can be used as a pro‐drug or for a drug‐delivery system. Effects of pH, dissolved oxygen concentration (DO) and stirring speed were investigated to improve PMLA production by A. pullulans ipe‐1. RESULTS: The strain produced a high PMLA concentration when pH and DO remained at about 6.0 and above 70%, respectively, and the yeast‐like cells were the main PMLA producers. To further promote PMLA production, the cultivation could be divided into three phases. In phase I, cell growth was accelerated by maintaining high DO (>70%) with a constant stirring speed of 800 rpm. In phase II, PMLA production was increased by controlling DO at 70% using the automatically controlled stirring speed. In phase III, PMLA production on per gram of glucose (Y_p/s) was enhanced by keeping DO at 70%, and using a low stirring speed to decrease cell growth. Compared with batch cultures, a higher PMLA yield was obtained with this strategy, i.e. PMLA production and Y_p/s increased by 15% and 18%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Control strategies for pH, DO and stirring speed provide a good reference for process development and optimization of PMLA production. © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry     

Influence of Mechanical Mixing Rates on Sludge Characteristics and Membrane Fouling in MBRs

Abstract

The influence of shear intensity (G) induced by mechanical mixing on activated sludge characteristics as well as membrane fouling propensity in membrane bioreactors (MBRs) was investigated. Four MBRs were operated at different mechanical mixing conditions. The control reactor (MBR₀) was operated with aeration only supplemented by mechanical stirring at 150, 300, and 450 rpm in MBR₁₅₀, MBR₃₀₀, and MBR₄₅₀, respectively. It was found that the MBR₃₀₀ demonstrated minimum rate of membrane fouling. The fouling potential of the MBR₃₀₀ mixed liquor was lowest characterized by the specific cake resistance and the normalized capillary suction time (CST_N). Moreover, it was found that the mean particle size reduced with an increase in the shear intensity. These results reveal that membrane fouling can be significantly mitigated by appropriate shear stress on membrane fibers induced by mechanical mixing condition.     

Development of operational strategies to remove carbon dioxide in photobioreactors

The objective of this work was to evaluate different operational strategies for photobioreactors to remove carbon dioxide using the cyanobacteria, Aphanothece microscopica Nägeli. Two types of reactor configuration, bubble column and airlift were evaluated under three different operational conditions to treat air containing 15% carbon dioxide: simple operation, air recirculation and two sequential reactors. The results obtained showed that the reactor configuration and the operational mode were both determinant criteria for the performance of photobioreactors in the biological conversion of carbon dioxide. Operations with air recirculation showed possibilities for use in small-scale operations, but two-stage sequential photobioreactors (elimination capacity and removal efficiency of 12,217 g_carbon/m³_reactor day and 52.5%, respectively) were shown to be the operational mode with greatest potential for application on an industrial scale by the increased removal efficiency.     

Thixotropic behavior of gel-like systems

The changes of shear stress with time under constant shear rate and temperature of several pigmented acrylic polymer gels were examined. This behavior, known as thixotropy, was interpreted based on a model which separates the stress into two regions. Region I covers the growth of the stress up to the yield point, represented by a peak stress, F₀. Region II covers the decay of the stress from the peak to the point it attains an asymptotic value, F_∞. The material in region I is assumed to be elastic and in region II is represented by a dynamic equilibrium between structure A, which is non-Newtonian and structure B, which is Newtonian. The transitions between A and B represent structure degradation and structure recovery. The concentrations of A and B are solved explicitly. The total shear stress is then evaluated following a theory proposed by Ree and Eyring and is shown to give relationship between shear stress–shear rate–shearing time in good qualitative agreement with experimental observations. The ratio (F₀ ? F_∞)/F_∞, defined as the coefficient of thixotropy, is sensitive to the fundamental physical chemical parameters of the system and is easy to measure. It is shown to be useful in the characterization of thixotropic materials such as gels. Methods for evaluating the elastic modulus and yield stress of the material in the gel state are also illustrated.     

Optimization of growth operational conditions for CO2 biofixation by native Synechocystis sp.

BACKGROUND: A fundamental step in assessing the viability of a CO₂ biofixation system based on microalgae is to identify the maximum CO₂ biofixation yield that can be achieved for this microorganism when it is cultivated under optimum operational growth conditions. Response surface methodology was applied to determine optimum culture conditions for CO₂ biofixation by a recently isolated freshwater cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. The strain was cultivated in a 1 L bubble column photobioreactor, in semicontinuous mode. RESULTS: Statistical analysis showed that temperature (from 22 to 39 °C), pH (from 7.2 to 8.8) and light intensity (from 928 to 2272 µE m^?2 s^?1), in addition to some of their interactions, had a significant effect on CO₂ biofixation. An optimum CO₂ biofixation rate of 2.07 gCO₂ L^?1culture day^?1 was found within the experimental region, at an average light intensity 686 µE m^?2 s^?1, pH 7.2 and temperature 35.3 °C. CONCLUSIONS: Based on these results, it is concluded that Synechocystis sp. presents a good tolerance to both high temperature and light intensity, characteristics which facilitate its application in outdoor CO₂ biofixation systems. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry     

Genome‐scale modeling of Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 and prediction of pathway insertion

BACKGROUND: Cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 has been used widely as a model system for the study of photosynthetic organisms and higher plants. The aim of this work was to integrate the genomic information, biochemistry and physiological information available for Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 to reconstruct a metabolic network for system biology investigations. RESULTS: A genome‐scale Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 metabolic network, including 633 genes, 704 metabolites and 831 metabolic reactions, was reconstructed for the study of optimal Synechocystis growth, network capacity and functions. Heterotrophic, photoautotrophic and mixotrophic growth conditions were simulated. The Synechocystis model was used for in silico predictions for the insertion of ethanol fermentation pathway, which is a novel approach for bioenergy and biofuels production developed in the authors' laboratory. Simulations of Synechocystis cell growth and ethanol production were compared with actual metabolic measurements which showed a satisfactory agreement. CONCLUSION: The Synechocystis metabolic network developed in this study is the first genome‐scale mathematical model for photosynthetic organisms. The model may be used not only in global understanding of cellular metabolism and photosynthesis, but also in designing metabolic engineering strategies for desirable bio‐products. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry     

Flow Properties of Highly Dispersed Powders at Very Small Consolidation Stresses

With a modified standard ring shear tester yield loci of highly dispersed, dry powders were measured at preshear normal stresses down to 32 Pa and shear stresses down to 10 Pa. At small consolidation stresses stress, σ₁, (< 500 Pa) the values obtained for the unconfined yield strength, σ_c, are proportional to the consolidation stress, σ₁.     

A Survey of Rheological Properties of One-Component Epoxy Adhesives

Flow characteristics of seven commercially available one-component epoxy adhesive pastes were measured using a controlled shear stress rheometer and a controlled shear rate rheometer over a temperature range from 5°C to 60°C. Combining data obtained from both controlled rate and controlled stress experiments over a wide range of shear rates, we observed Newtonian flow (shear stress proportional to shear rate) at very low shear rates, a plateau “shear thinning” region at intermediate shear rates, and a second region of linear dependence of shear stress on shear rate at high shear rates. The adhesive pastes exhibited a very broad range of rheological behavior. Two flow parameters important to adhesive application technology, the plastic viscosity and the apparent yield stress, were measured for each adhesive. The plastic viscosity ranged from 11.6 to 329.5 Pa. s; the apparent yield stress ranged from 56.2 to 413 Pa. The temperature dependence of the rheological parameters of the epoxy adhesive pastes was also determined. The results are reported as the activation energies, E_η and E_σ , of plastic viscosity and apparent yield stress, respectively. The apparent yield stress of each adhesive paste was much less sensitive to changes in temperature than was the plastic viscosity. This suggests that the processing characteristics are likely to show qualitative as well as quantitative changes with temperature.     

Evaluation of Nitrogen Fixing Enzyme Activities in Response to Pyrene Bioremediation Efficacy by Defined Artificial Microalgal-Bacterial Consortium of Gujarat,India

This study was carried out to investigate the response and relationship between nitrogen fixing enzymes during the remediation of different concentrations of high molecular weight four rings Polynuclear Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) Pyrene by microalgae Synechocystis sp. (cyanobacteria) with artificial developed indigenous bacterial consortium. One axenic microalgal culture of Synechocystis sp. and two pyrene degrading indigenous bacteria with efficient removal capabilities viz. Pseudomonas indoxyladons and Bacillus benzoevorans isolated from crude oil polluted site and common industrial effluent canal were used to construct the consortium. The effect of pyrene on algal growth in terms of chlorophyll-a was measured and it was found that in the presence of bacteria, the growth and bioremediation capacity of Synechocystis sp. raised tremendously, whereas Synechocystis sp. monoculture exhibited concentration dependent decrease. Moreover, the nitrogen fixing enzymes; nitrate reductase (NR), glutamine synthetase (GS), and succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) showed chronological decrease by 93%, 90%, and 98%, respectively. Increased Bioremediation of pyrene by consortium JPNKA7B2 (Mix culture of Synechocystis sp., Pseudomonas indoxyladons, and Bacillus benzoevorans) was eliminated at 94.1% in 50 mg/L, which indirectly retarded the nitrogen fixing enzymes – NR, GS, and SDH. However, Synechocystis sp. monoculture could remediate up to 36% at 1.5 mg/L after 16 days of incubation.     

Pilot-scale production of bacterial cellulose by a spherical type bubble column bioreactor using saccharified food wastes

Bacterial cellulose (BC) was produced by Acetobacter xylinum KJ1 in a modified airlift-type bubble column bioreactor, which had a low shear stress and high oxygen transfer rate (k _L a). Saccharified food wastes (SFW) were used as the BC production medium due to its low cost. An aeration rate of 1.2 vvm (6 L/min) was tentatively determined as the optimal aeration condition in a 10 L spherical type bubble column bioreactor, by analysis of the oxygen transfer coefficient. When 0.4% agar was added, the BC production reached 5.8 g/L, compared with 5.0 g/L in the culture without the addition of agar. The BC productivity was improved by 10% in the addition of 0.4% agar into the SFW medium. Then, by conversion of a linear velocity of 0.93 cm/sec, from the relationship between the linear velocity and oxygen transfer rate, 1.0 vvm (30 L/min) was determined as an optimal aeration condition in a 50 L spherical type bubble column reactor. Using SFW medium, with the addition of 0.4% agar, and air supplied of 1.0 vvm, 5.6 g/L BC was produced in the 50 L spherical type bubble column bioreactor after 3 days of cultivation, which was similar to that produced in the 10 L bioreactor. In conclusion, the addition of agar, a viscous polysaccharide, into SFW medium is effective for the production of BC, and this scale-up method is very useful for the mass production in a 50 L spherical type bubble column bioreactor by decreasing the shear stress and increasing the k _L a.     

Thermal and rheological behavior of ultrafine fly ash filled LDPE composites

The specimens containing different volume fractions of ultrafine fly ash in LDPE were prepared with the help of two roll mixing mill and the hot‐plate compression‐molding machine. Thermal and rheological properties were evaluated using DSC and parallel‐plate rotational‐rheometer. The effect of composition variation on melt enthalpy, crystallinity, shear viscosity, shear stress and first normal stress difference was studied and reported here. The addition of ultrafine fly ash in LDPE decreased the melt enthalpy of the specimen. Slight decrease in the crystallinity of LDPE was observed on addition of fly ash. The shear stress as well as the shear viscosity both increased with the addition of ultrafine fly ash in LDPE. Two regions of shear thinning were observed at 200°C for fly ash filled LDPE. The first normal stress difference (N₁) reduced with fly ash content and with the increased temperature. The values of N₁ remained almost invariable at low shear region however a proportional increase was observed beyond the shear stress of 10 kPa. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 2008     

Kinetic and thermodynamic investigation of Arthrospira (Spirulina) platensis fed‐batch cultivation in a tubular photobioreactor using urea as nitrogen source

BACKGROUND: Fed‐batch culture allows the cultivation of Arthrospira platensis using urea as nitrogen source. Tubular photobioreactors substantially increase cell growth, but the successful use of this cheap nitrogen source requires a knowledge of the kinetic and thermodynamic parameters of the process. This work aims at identifying the effect of two independent variables, temperature (T) and urea daily molar flow‐rate (U), on cell growth, biomass composition and thermodynamic parameters involved in this photosynthetic cultivation. RESULTS: The optimal values obtained were T = 32 °C and U = 1.16 mmol L^?1 d^?1, under which the maximum cell concentration was 4186 ± 39 mg L^?1, cell productivity 541 ± 5 mg L^?1 d^?1 and yield of biomass on nitrogen 14.3 ± 0.1 mg mg^?1. Applying an Arrhenius‐type approach, the thermodynamic parameters of growth (ΔH* = 98.2 kJ mol^?1; ΔS* = ? 0.020 kJ mol^?1 K^?1; ΔG* = 104.1 kJ mol^?1) and its thermal inactivation ( kJ mol^?1; kJ mol^?1 K^?1; kJ mol^?1) were estimated. CONCLUSIONS: To maximize cell growth T and U were simultaneously optimized. Biomass lipid content was not influenced by the experimental conditions, while protein content was dependent on both independent variables. Using urea as nitrogen source prevented the inhibitory effect already observed with ammonium salts. Copyright © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry     

Hybrid PAC-submerged membrane system for trace organics removal: I. Adsorption kinetics study of PAC in a bubbled solution

Part I of this study presents a theoretical method combined with experiments to determine the adsorption kinetics of powdered activated carbon (PAC) in the hybrid PAC-submerged membrane (SM) system with air bubbling for trace organics removal. The homogeneous surface diffusion model (HSDM) was applied to describe the kinetics of the adsorbate uptake. The differences between the model solutions and the corresponding experimental results were minimized by means of Levenberg–Marquardt algorithm so that two kinetic parameters D_S and k_f involved in HSDM were obtained simultaneously. The D_S was found to be 1.14 × 10⁻¹⁶ m²/s and the k_f value was correlated with the bubbling rate (Q_b) and carbon dosage (C_c), which are required in the modeling of the hybrid PAC-SM system presented in Part II of this study. The k_f was enhanced from 1.18 × 10⁻⁴ to 4.18 × 10⁻⁴ m/s when the bubbling intensity increased in the intermittent bubbling tests, suggesting that from energy consumption point of view, the high intensity intermittent bubbling is more efficient in improving the liquid film mass transfer than continuous bubbling with the same net bubbling rate.     

Mathematical modeling and simulation studies of scale-down fermentation systems

In this study, a scale-down approach has been used for the simulation of the imperfect mixing on the growth processes by considering several configurations of continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR, aerated) and plug flow tubular reactor (PFTR, not aerated). The steady-state concentrations of biomass and enzyme in a continuous culture were calculated as a function of dilution rate using modified Monod growth kinetics. A mathematical model for each combination of two bioreactors was developed to account for growth, substrate utilization (oxygen and glucose) and enzyme synthesis and decay. The model was then used to investigate biomass production and enzyme expression in relation to the volumetric fraction U_f = V_PFTR /(V_CSTR + V_PFTR ) and the recirculation ratio R = f_r/(f + f_r) of the fermentation system. These two mixing parameters were found to be significant factors in the biomass and enzyme production from the fermentation system. This model was also compared with some of the existing models.