Investigating Mass Transfer and Reaction Engineering Characteristics in a Membrane Biofilm Using <i>Cupriavidus necator</i> H16
Membrane biofilm reactors are a growing trend in wastewater treatment whereby gas-transfer membranes provide efficient bubbleless aeration. Recently, there has been a growing interest in using these bioreactors for industrial biotechnology using microorganisms that can metabolise gaseous substrates....
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-12-01
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| Series: | Membranes |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0375/13/12/908 |
| _version_ | 1797380138733666304 |
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| author | Burcu Akkoyunlu Sorcha Daly Federico Cerrone Eoin Casey |
| author_facet | Burcu Akkoyunlu Sorcha Daly Federico Cerrone Eoin Casey |
| author_sort | Burcu Akkoyunlu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Membrane biofilm reactors are a growing trend in wastewater treatment whereby gas-transfer membranes provide efficient bubbleless aeration. Recently, there has been a growing interest in using these bioreactors for industrial biotechnology using microorganisms that can metabolise gaseous substrates. Since gas fermentation is limited by the low solubilities of gaseous substrates in liquid media, it is critical to characterise mass transfer rates of gaseous substrates to enable the design of membrane biofilm reactors. The objective of this study is to measure and analyse mass transfer rates and reaction engineering characteristics for a single tube membrane biofilm reactor using <i>Cupriavidus necator</i> H16. At elevated Reynolds numbers, the dominant resistance for gas diffusion shifts from the liquid boundary layer to the membrane. The biofilm growth rate was observed to decrease after 260 μm at 96 h. After 144 h, some sloughing of the biofilm occurred. Oxygen uptake rate and substrate utilisation rate for the biofilm developed showed that the biofilm changes from a single-substrate limited regime to a dual-substrate-limited regime after 72 h which alters the localisation of the microbial activity within the biofilm. This study shows that this platform technology has potential applications for industrial biotechnology. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T20:32:57Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-88d7dc11eb8a47d3a15a86fca258b76d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2077-0375 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T20:32:57Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Membranes |
| spelling | doaj.art-88d7dc11eb8a47d3a15a86fca258b76d2023-12-22T14:24:19ZengMDPI AGMembranes2077-03752023-12-01131290810.3390/membranes13120908Investigating Mass Transfer and Reaction Engineering Characteristics in a Membrane Biofilm Using <i>Cupriavidus necator</i> H16Burcu Akkoyunlu0Sorcha Daly1Federico Cerrone2Eoin Casey3School of Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering, University College Dublin, D04 V1W8 Dublin, IrelandSchool of Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering, University College Dublin, D04 V1W8 Dublin, IrelandBiOrbic Bioeconomy SFI Research Centre, University College Dublin, D04 V1W8 Dublin, IrelandSchool of Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering, University College Dublin, D04 V1W8 Dublin, IrelandMembrane biofilm reactors are a growing trend in wastewater treatment whereby gas-transfer membranes provide efficient bubbleless aeration. Recently, there has been a growing interest in using these bioreactors for industrial biotechnology using microorganisms that can metabolise gaseous substrates. Since gas fermentation is limited by the low solubilities of gaseous substrates in liquid media, it is critical to characterise mass transfer rates of gaseous substrates to enable the design of membrane biofilm reactors. The objective of this study is to measure and analyse mass transfer rates and reaction engineering characteristics for a single tube membrane biofilm reactor using <i>Cupriavidus necator</i> H16. At elevated Reynolds numbers, the dominant resistance for gas diffusion shifts from the liquid boundary layer to the membrane. The biofilm growth rate was observed to decrease after 260 μm at 96 h. After 144 h, some sloughing of the biofilm occurred. Oxygen uptake rate and substrate utilisation rate for the biofilm developed showed that the biofilm changes from a single-substrate limited regime to a dual-substrate-limited regime after 72 h which alters the localisation of the microbial activity within the biofilm. This study shows that this platform technology has potential applications for industrial biotechnology.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0375/13/12/908membrane biofilm reactorCupriavidus necatoroxygen transfermass transfer modelbiofilm |
| spellingShingle | Burcu Akkoyunlu Sorcha Daly Federico Cerrone Eoin Casey Investigating Mass Transfer and Reaction Engineering Characteristics in a Membrane Biofilm Using <i>Cupriavidus necator</i> H16 Membranes membrane biofilm reactor Cupriavidus necator oxygen transfer mass transfer model biofilm |
| title | Investigating Mass Transfer and Reaction Engineering Characteristics in a Membrane Biofilm Using <i>Cupriavidus necator</i> H16 |
| title_full | Investigating Mass Transfer and Reaction Engineering Characteristics in a Membrane Biofilm Using <i>Cupriavidus necator</i> H16 |
| title_fullStr | Investigating Mass Transfer and Reaction Engineering Characteristics in a Membrane Biofilm Using <i>Cupriavidus necator</i> H16 |
| title_full_unstemmed | Investigating Mass Transfer and Reaction Engineering Characteristics in a Membrane Biofilm Using <i>Cupriavidus necator</i> H16 |
| title_short | Investigating Mass Transfer and Reaction Engineering Characteristics in a Membrane Biofilm Using <i>Cupriavidus necator</i> H16 |
| title_sort | investigating mass transfer and reaction engineering characteristics in a membrane biofilm using i cupriavidus necator i h16 |
| topic | membrane biofilm reactor Cupriavidus necator oxygen transfer mass transfer model biofilm |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0375/13/12/908 |
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