line corresponds); b) dissolved oxygen
concentration profiles.
OPERATION AND APPLICATIONS OF FLOCCULATION
BIOREACTORS
As well as all the other factors pointed out through the preceding pages, the operational
conditions under which a given bioreactor can be operated are also largely dependent on
the flocculation ability of the microbial strain involved in the fermentation. If a highly
flocculent strain is used, its continuance inside the bioreactor poses no problem even if
“tough” operational conditions are used, such as high aeration and dilution rates (Vicente
et al., 1999). However, when a given strain has weak flocculation abilities, the reactor
design plays a fundamental role, an airlift being one of the most appropriate, especially if
equipped with a sedimentation zone (either at the top of the reactor, for an internal loop
airlift, or at the top of the downcomer, for an external loop airlift). In Figure 13.6 it is
possible to follow the operation of an external loop airlift with a sedimentation zone, a
volume of 1.2 L and fed at different dilution rates, as shown (Teixeira and Mota, 1992).
This experiment was made with the yeast strain K. marxianus AJCC 10002 which,
when inoculated in the bioreactor, had no flocculation ability. Being so, during the first
12 days there was no considerable difference between the biomass concentration in the
effluent and inside the bioreactor. In the following days, however, flocs became apparent
and the biomass concentration started to rise inside the bioreactor, while the effluent
biomass concentration was kept near zero. This means that both the hydrodynamic
conditions inside the reactor were favourable to the formation of flocs and that there was
a selection of the most flocculent individuals to the detriment of the non-flocculating
ones, due to the sedimentation characteristics of the former. Of particular importance is
the fact that it has been possible to constantly maintain the flocculating characteristics of
the strain used over a working period of two years. It is interesting to notice the effects of
a sudden increase of the dilution rate (in days 39 to 41), when a peak of lactose
concentration together with a drop of both ethanol and biomass concentrations are
registered and are essentially due to a washout effect. However, the system reacts and,
three days later, a new equilibrium state is reached. Also noteworthy is the biomass
concentration in the effluent, which always has very small, near zero, values throughout
the course of the experiment.
Flocculation bioreactors 405