Mechanistic modeling of increased oxygen transport using functionalized magnetic fluids in bioreactors

Absorption of gases into a liquid is of crucial importance to multiphase reactions because diffusion of a sparingly soluble gas across a gas-liquid interface generally limits the relevant reaction rates. Pertinent examples of multiphase reactions that have found application in the chemical and biochemical industries include fermentation, water treatment, and hydrogenation reactions. Gas-liquid mass transfer is of particular importance in fermentation because productivity increases in aerobic cultures are often constrained by transport of oxygen, which is only slightly soluble in water. Previous approaches to enhance oxygen transfer consisted in adding emulsified organic phases in which oxygen has a greater solubility. However, these approaches have several limitations, the most important of which is the difficult recovery of the organic phase after the fermentation. The research presented in this thesis focuses on the use of functionalized magnetic nanoparticles to enhance gas-liquid oxygen transfer. The nanoparticles have a magnetic core and an organic coating. The magnetic core makes it possible to easily recover the fluid by passing it through a magnetic field, and the coating confers colloidal stability to the particle.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Chemical Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2007

Author dc:creator

• Ollé Pocurull, Bernat

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Daniel I.C. Wang and T. Alan Hatton.

• Chemical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/38966
• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Identifier URI

http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/38966

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/38966