ENGINEERING ASPECTS OF PENICILLIN G TRANSFER AND CONVERSION TO 6-AMINOPENICILLANIC ACID IN A BIOREACTOR WITH A MOBILE BED OF IMMOBILIZED PENICILLIN AMIDASE

This article presents studies on the external and internal mass transfers of penicillin G for 6-aminopenicillanic acid enzymatic production using a bioreactor with a stirred bed of immobilized penicillin amidase. By means of the substrate mass balance for a single particle of biocatalyst and considering the kinetic model adapted for competitive and noncompetitive inhibitions, specific mathematical models were developed for describing the profiles of penicillin G concentration in the outer and inner regions of biocatalyst and for estimating its mass flows in the liquid boundary layer surrounding the particle and inside the particle. The values of the mass flows are significantly influenced by the internal diffusion velocity and rate of the enzymatic conversion of substrate. These cumulated influences led to the appearance of an enzymatic inactive region near the particle center, its magnitude varying from 0 to 9.2% of the overall volume of particles.     

MELTING OF ICE AROUND A HORIZONTAL ISOTHERMAL CYLINDRICAL HEAT SOURCE

Processes during melting from a horizontal cylindrical heat source of uniform surface temperature embedded in ice have been studied experimentally. The volume of the melt and its shape were photographed at different times for various constant temperatures of the heat source. At early times and under all conditions, the melt occupied a cylindrical annulus. At later times free convective motion caused pear-shaped melt contours which pointed downward when the temperatures of the heat source were below 7°C and upward when the temperatures were above 8°C. Instabilities in cellular natural convection motion resulted in waviness of the interface. The location and magnitude of these ripples were found to depend on the temperature of the heat source and the melt layer thickness. Shadowgraph techniques were used to determine local heat transfer coefficients at the heat source surface.     

STUDIES OF MIXING IN A CONCENTRIC TUBE AIR-LIFT REACTOR CONTAINING XANTHAN GUM BY MEANS OF AN IMPROVED FLOW FOLLOWER

The influence of a pseudoplastic non-Newtonian fluid upon the hydrodynamic performance and mixing parameters of a concentric tube air-lift fermenter has been studied using a range of dilute xanthan gum solutions (0-0.5% weight by volume). Liquid circulation times vary in a complex pattern with increasing gum concentration. At low concentrations, circulation was more; rapid due to drag reduction whilst at the highest concentrations circulation times were increased. The column voidage decreased with increasing gum concentration and bubbly flow in the riser was replaced by slug flow. For all gum concentrations the effective dispersion coefficient for a single passage around the loop was increased relative to tap water. An improved radio-pill flow follower system for hydrodynamic studies is described.     

THE EFFECT OF FREE STREAM CONCENTRATION ON HEAT AND BINARY MASS TRANSFER WITH THERMODYNAMIC COUPLING IN CONVECTION ON A ROTATING DISC†

Simultaneous heat and mass transfer, which arises from injecting a gas (helium or hydrogen) from or through the solid surface into a flowing external stream, has been studied for a rotating disc geometry. The effects of concentration levels of the injected gas in the external stream on the thermodynamic coupling in the presence of centrifugal force have been investigated over a wide range of T_w/T_e.

Boundary layer equations for heat and mass transfer were solved numerically. Exact and linearized approximate solutions were obtained. The results have shown that the thermal diffusion effect on mass transfer becomes increasingly important as the free stream concentration increases and as T_w/T_e departs from unity. The diffusion thermo effect on heat transfer was found to be the most important when the free stream concentration is zero and as T_w/T_e approaches unity.     

SWIRLING FLOWS OF VISCOELASTIC FLUIDS OF THE INTEGRAL TYPE IN RHEOGONIOMETERS

Recent numerical methods for calculating the flow of fluids of the integral type have been extended to the case of swirling flows in geometries of revolution. Such flows are important in rheometry, as it was suggested in early experimental results by Savins and Metzner [1]. After having developed the necessary background for the numerical calculation, we apply the method to the flow in disk-and-plate and cone-and-plate rheogoniometers.     

A NONDESTRUCTIVE METHOD TO MEASURE RESIDUAL ADSORPTION CAPACITY OF CHARCOAL FILTERS

High surface area charcoal bed filters have been used for over a half a century to adsorb undesirable vapors from gas streams. One problem encountered when using these niter beds is that there is presently no simple, reliable, nondestructive method to measure their Residual Adsorption Capacity, RAC. This is particularly critical in situations where harmful vapors are being adsorbed.

An investigation has been underway to use pulses of weakly adsorbed gases such as ethane and/or methane to measure RAC. The hypothesis being that these weakly adsorbed gases will “count” unoccupied adsorption sites. In the present study, dimethyl methylphosphonate (DMMP) was used to “irreversibly” occupy available siles to various extents on different niters. The Reduced Retention Time. θ, (the ratio of the adjusted retention time to the space time) and the Resolution (R) between peaks of methane and ethane were found to correlate to RAC under dry and wet (humid) conditions.     

Plasmonic Fano resonance and dip of Au-SiO2-Au nanomatryoshka

This study theoretically investigates Fano resonances and dips of an Au-SiO₂-Au nanomatryoshka that is excited by a nearby electric dipole. An analytical solution of dyadic Green''s functions is used to analyze the radiative and nonradiative power spectra of a radial dipole in the proximity of a nanomatryoshka. From these spectra, the plasmon modes and Fano resonances that accompany the Fano dips are identified. In addition, the scattering and absorption spectra of a nanomatryoshka that is illuminated by a plane wave are investigated to confirm these modes and Fano dips. Our results reveal that a Fano dip splits each of the dipole and quadrupole modes into bonding and anti-bonding modes. The Fano dip and resonance result from the destructive interference of the plasmon modes of the Au shell and the Au core. The Fano factors that are obtained from the nonradiative power spectra of the Au shell and the Au core of a nanomatryoshka are in accordance with those obtained from the absorption cross section spectra. Moreover, these Fano factors increase as the plasmonic coupling of the Au shell with the core increases for both dipole and quadrupole modes.     

Alcohol ethoxylation kinetics: Proton transfer influence on product distribution in microchannels

The influence of the reactor type on the product distribution of the base catalyzed ethoxylation of fatty alcohols was studied.Commonly, proton exchange equilibrium is assumed when modeling this reaction to calculate the product distribution. The model is applicable for ethoxylates produced in semibatch, but cannot explain the products obtained from a continuous microstructured reactor.In this work, a non-equilibrium model is proposed to explain the observed distributions. The model is better suited to fit the distribution curves, and was used to determine the kinetic parameters of this reaction.For the propagation reaction, an activation energy E_A,P = 74 kJ mol⁻¹ was found, which is in good agreement to literature data. For the proton transfer, activation energies in the range of 56 kJ mol⁻¹ to 68 kJ mol⁻¹ were observed.