Nutrient medium is to be heated from 10⁰C to 28⁰C is a single-pass countercurrent shell-and-tube heat exchanger before being pumped into a fed-batch fermenter. Medium passes through the tubes of the exchanger; the shell-side fluid is water which enters with flow rate 3 x 10^4 kg h^- 1 and temperature 60⁰C pre-heated medium is required at a rate of 50 m^3 h^-1. The density, viscosity and heat capacity of the medium are the same as water; the thermal conductivity of the medium is 0.54 Wm^- 1 ⁰C ^- 1. It is proposed to use 30 steel tubes with inner diameter 5 cm; the tubes will be arranged in line. The pipe wall is 5-mm thick; the thermal conductivity of the metal is 50 Wm^- 1 ⁰C ^- 1. The maximum linear shell-side fluid velocity is estimated as 0.15 m s^-1. Calculate the overall heat-transfer coefficient._________

#Question id: 14330

#Section 5: Bioprocess Engineering and Process Biotechnology

A radioactive isotope decays at a rate proportional to the amount of isotope present. If the concentration of isotope is C (mg l^-I), its rate of decay is:

A solution of the isotope ³²p is used to radioactively label DNA for hybridisation studies. The half-life of ³²p is 14.3 days. According to institutional safety requirements, the solution cannot be discarded until the activity is 1% its present value. How long will this take?____________________

#Question id: 14331

#Section 5: Bioprocess Engineering and Process Biotechnology

To ensure turbulent conditions and minimum mixing time during agitation with a turbine impeller, the Reynolds number must be at least 10⁴. A stirred laboratory-scale fermenter with a turbine impeller 5 cm in diameter is operated at 800 rpm. If the density of broth being stirred is close to that of water, what is the upper limit for viscosity of the suspension if adequate mixing is to be maintained?

#Question id: 14332

#Section 5: Bioprocess Engineering and Process Biotechnology

To ensure turbulent conditions and minimum mixing time during agitation with a turbine impeller, the Reynolds number must be at least 10⁴. A stirred laboratory-scale fermenter with a turbine impeller 5 cm in diameter is operated at 800 rpm. If the density of broth being stirred is close to that of water. The mixing system is scaled up so the tank and impeller are 15 times the diameter of the laboratory equipment. The stirrer in the large vessel is operated so that the stirrer tip speed (tip speed = π N i D i) is the same as in the laboratory apparatus. How does scale-up affect the maximum viscosity. 

#Question id: 14333

#Section 5: Bioprocess Engineering and Process Biotechnology

A cylindrical bioreactor of diameter 3 m has four baffles. A Rushton turbine mounted in the reactor has a diameter one third the tank diameter and is operated at a speed of 90 rpm. The density of the fluid is approximately I g cm^-3. The reactor is used to culture an anaerobic organism that does not require gas sparging. The broth can be assumed Newtonian. As the cells grow, the viscosity of the broth increases. when the viscosity is 1000 times greater than water, estimate the power required to achieve turbulence.

#Question id: 14334

#Section 5: Bioprocess Engineering and Process Biotechnology

Laboratory-scale fermenters are usually mixed using small stirrers with electric motors rated between 100 and 500 W. One such motor is used to drive a 7cm turbine impeller in a small reactor containing fluid with the properties of water. The stirrer speed is 900 rpm. Estimate the power requirements for this process.