Tutorial-1
Tutorial-1
3. Plant cells are cultured in a bioreactor using sucrose (C12H22O11) as the carbon source and
ammonia (NH3) as the nitrogen source. The vessel is sparged with air. Biomass is the major
product formed; however, because the cells are subject to lysis, significant levels of excreted
by-product with the same molecular composition as the biomass are also produced. Elemental
analysis of the plant cells gives a molecular formula of CH1.63O0.80N0.13 with negligible ash.
Yield measurements show that 0.32 g of intact cells is produced per g of sugar consumed,
while 0.2 g of by-product is formed per g of intact biomass. If 10 kg sugar is consumed per
hour, at what rate must oxygen be provided to the reactor in units of gmol min-1?
4. The chemical reaction equation for conversion of ethanol (C2H6O) to acetic acid (C2H4O2) is:
C2H6O + O2 → C2H4O2 + H2O
Acetic acid is produced from ethanol during growth of Acetobacter aceti, which has the
composition CH1.8O0.5N0.2. The biomass yield from substrate is 0.14 g g-1; the product yield
from substrate is 0.92 g g-1. Ammonia is used as the nitrogen source. How does growth in this
culture affect the oxygen demand for acetic acid production?
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