[1] The air supply to a fermenter was turned off for a short period of time and then restarted.

A
value for C* of 7.3 mg/L has been determined for the operating conditions. Use the tabulated
measurements of dissolved oxygen (DO) values to estimate the oxygen uptake rate and kLa in this
system.
Time (min) DO (mg/l)
-1 3.3
Air off 0 3.3
1 2.4
2 1.3
3 0.3
4 0.1
5 0.0
Air on 6 0.0
7 0.3
8 1.0
9 1.6
10 2.0
11 2.4
12 2.7
13 2.9
14 3.0
15 3.1
16 3.2
17 3.2
Given:
 Data on the measurements of dissolved oxygen (DO) at any time t.
Required:
 Estimate the oxygen uptake rate (OUR) and kLa

Solution:
Plotting DO or CL vs time,

4.00
3.50
3.00
DO or CL (mg/L)

2.50
2.00
1.50
1.00
0.50
0.00
-2.00 3.00 8.00 13.00 18.00
-0.50
Time (min)

Figure 1. Plot of DO (mg/L) against time (min)

When the aerator is off, the declining part of Figure 1 can be used to estimate the oxygen
uptake rate. We have,
𝑑𝐶𝐿
= 𝑘𝐿 𝑎(𝐶 ∗ − 𝐶𝐿 ) − 𝑞𝑂2 𝑋 (1)
𝑑𝑡

When the air is off, 𝑘𝐿 𝑎(𝐶 ∗ − 𝐶𝐿 ) = 0. Thus equation (1) becomes

𝑑𝐶𝐿
= −𝑞𝑂2 𝑋 (2)
𝑑𝑡

Integrating equation (2),

 𝐶 𝑡
∫𝐶 𝑑𝐶𝐿 = − 𝑞𝑂2 𝑋 ∫0 𝑑𝑡 (3)
0

𝐶𝐿 − 𝐶0 = −𝑞𝑂2 𝑋𝑡 (4)
From equation (4), plotting 𝐶𝐿 against t will yield a straight line with a slope equal to
−𝑞𝑂2 𝑋 = 𝑂𝑈𝑅. The resulting plot is,

4.00

3.50

3.00
DO or CL (mg/L)

2.50

2.00
y = -1.01x + 3.34
1.50 R² = 0.9986
1.00

0.50

0.00
0.00 0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00
Time (min)

Figure 2. Plot of DO or CL (mg/L) against time (min) for the estimation of OUR
From figure 2, the OUR is,
𝑚𝑔
𝑂𝑈𝑅 = 1.01
𝐿 ∙ 𝑚𝑖𝑛
To estimate kLa , going back to equation (1),
𝑑𝐶𝐿
= 𝑘𝐿 𝑎(𝐶 ∗ − 𝐶𝐿 ) − 𝑞𝑂2 𝑋
𝑑𝑡
Let 𝛼 = 𝑘𝐿 𝑎𝐶 ∗ − 𝑞𝑂2 𝑋. Equation (1) becomes
𝑑𝐶𝐿
= 𝑘𝐿 𝑎𝐶𝐿 + 𝛼 (5)
𝑑𝑡
𝑑𝐶𝐿
From equation (5), plotting against 𝐶𝐿 yields a straight line with a slope equal to 𝑘𝐿 𝑎. To do
𝑑𝑡
this, 𝐶𝐿 is plotted first against time to obtain the equation for 𝐶𝐿 as a function of time by
polynomial regression.

3.50

3.00

2.50
DO or CL (mg/L)

2.00 y = 0.0013x3 - 0.0846x2 + 1.728x - 8.0461

R² = 0.9993
1.50

1.00

0.50

0.00
6.00 8.00 10.00 12.00 14.00 16.00
Time (min)

Figure 3. Plot of DO or 𝐶𝐿 against t for estimating 𝑘𝐿 𝑎

From Figure 3,
𝐶𝐿 = 0.0013𝑡 3 − 0.0846𝑡 2 + 1.728𝑡 − 8.0461 (6)
Differentiation equation (6),
𝑑𝐶𝐿
= 0.0039𝑡 2 − 0.1692𝑡 + 1.728
𝑑𝑡
𝑑𝐶𝐿
Plotting against t:
𝑑𝑡

0.70

0.60

0.50

0.40 y = -0.2655x + 0.9229

dCL/dt

R² = 0.9669
0.30

0.20

0.10

0.00
0.00 0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00 3.50
Time (min)

𝑑𝐶𝐿
Figure 4. Plot of against t for estimating 𝑘𝐿 𝑎
𝑑𝑡

From figure 4,
𝑘𝐿 𝑎 = 0.266 𝑚𝑖𝑛−1
[Problem 10.13 of Shuler & Kargi]
In cultivation of baker’s yeast in a stirred and aerated tank, lethal agents are added to the
fermentation medium to kill the organisms immediately. Increase in dissolved oxygen (DO)
concentration upon addition of lethal agents is followed with the aid of a DO analyzer and a
recorder. Using the following data, determine the oxygen transfer coefficient (𝑘𝐿 𝑎) for the reactor.
Saturation DO concentration is C* = 9 mg/l.
Time (min) DO (mg/L)
1 1
2 3
2.5 4
3 5
4 6.5
5 7.2
Given:
 Saturation DO concentration (C*) = 9 mg/L
 Data on the dissolved oxygen concentration at any time t.
Required:
 Oxygen transfer coefficient (𝑘𝐿 𝑎) for the reactor.
Solution:
For a dynamic method, the governing equation for DO levels is,
𝑑𝐶𝐿
= 𝑘𝐿 𝑎(𝐶 ∗ − 𝐶𝐿 ) − 𝑞𝑂2 𝑋 (1)
𝑑𝑡

When lethal agents are added, 𝑞𝑂2 = 0. Equation (1) becomes,

𝑑𝐶𝐿
= 𝑘𝐿 𝑎(𝐶 ∗ − 𝐶𝐿 ) (2)
𝑑𝑡

Integrating equation (2), we obtain

ln(𝐶 ∗ − 𝐶𝐿 ) = −𝑘𝐿 𝑎𝑡 + 𝐾 (3)
Equation (3) suggests that plotting ln(𝐶 ∗ − 𝐶𝐿 ) against t results to a straight line with a
slope equal to 𝑘𝐿 𝑎. The resulting plot is,

2.50

2.00

1.50
ln (C*-CL)

1.00

y = -0.3885x + 2.5283
0.50 R² = 0.9923

0.00
0.00 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00 6.00
Time (min)

Figure 1. Plot of 𝐥𝐧(𝑪∗ − 𝑪𝑳 ) against t for estimating 𝒌𝑳 𝒂

From Figure 1,
𝑘𝐿 𝑎 = 0.389𝑚𝑖𝑛−1