Online monitoring of gas transfer rates during CO and CO/H2 gas fermentation in quasi-continuously ventilated shake flasks.

Syngas fermentation is a potential player for future emission reduction. The first demonstration and commercial plants have been successfully established. However, due to its novelty, development of syngas fermentation processes is still in its infancy, and the need to systematically unravel and understand further phenomena, such as substrate toxicity as well as gas transfer and uptake rates, still persists. This study describes a new online monitoring device based on the respiration activity monitoring system for cultivation of syngas fermenting microorganisms with gaseous substrates. The new device is designed to online monitor the carbon dioxide transfer rate (CO2 TR) and the gross gas transfer rate during cultivation. Online measured data are used for the calculation of the carbon monoxide transfer rate (COTR) and hydrogen transfer rate (H2 TR). In cultivation on pure CO and CO + H2 , CO was continuously limiting, whereas hydrogen, when present, was sufficiently available. The maximum COTR measured was approximately 5 mmol/L/h for pure CO cultivation, and approximately 6 mmol/L/h for cultivation with additional H2 in the gas supply. Additionally, calculation of the ratio of evolved carbon dioxide to consumed monoxide, similar to the respiratory quotient for aerobic fermentation, allows the prediction of whether acetate or ethanol is predominantly produced. Clostridium ljungdahlii, a model acetogen for syngas fermentation, was cultivated using only CO, and CO in combination with H2 . Online monitoring of the mentioned parameters revealed a metabolic shift in fermentation with sole CO, depending on COTR. The device presented herein allows fast process development, because crucial parameters for scale-up can be measured online in small-scale gas fermentation.

Periodic venting of MABR lumen allows high removal rates and high gas-transfer efficiencies.

The membrane-aerated biofilm reactor (MABR) is a novel treatment technology that employs gas-supplying membranes to deliver oxygen directly to a biofilm growing on the membrane surface. When operated with closed-end membranes, the MABR provides 100-percent oxygen transfer efficiencies (OTE), resulting in significant energy savings. However, closed-end MABRs are more sensitive to back-diffusion of inert gases, such as nitrogen. Back-diffusion reduces the average oxygen transfer rates (OTR), consequently decreasing the average contaminant removal fluxes (J). We hypothesized that venting the membrane lumen periodically would increase the OTR and J. Using an experimental flow cell and mathematical modeling, we showed that back-diffusion gas profiles developed over relatively long timescales. Thus, very short ventings could re-establish uniform gas profiles for relatively long time periods. Using modeling, we systematically explored the effect of the venting interval (time between ventings). At moderate venting intervals, opening the membrane for 20 s every 30 min, the venting significantly increased the average OTR and J without substantially impacting the OTEs. When the interval was short enough, in this case shorter than 20 min, the OTR was actually higher than for continuous open-end operation. Our results show that periodic venting is a promising strategy to combine the advantages of open-end and closed end operation, maximizing both the OTR and OTE.