TITLE:
Computer Aided Design and Performance Analysis of Inverse Fluidized Bed Biofilm Reactors with Special Reference to Bioplastic Synthesis
AUTHORS:
C. M. Narayanan, Shrijita Das
KEYWORDS:
Inverse Fluidized Bed Biofilm Reactors, Computer Aided Design, Bioplastics, Lactic Acid Synthesis, Software Development
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Chemical Engineering and Science,
Vol.6 No.2,
April
15,
2016
ABSTRACT: Poly Laevo Lactic Acid
(PLLA), in spite of being an excellent bioplastic, has exorbitantly high market
price due to the high cost of raw material (lactose, glucose, sucrose). Hence,
its manufacture is being attempted starting from waste effluents such as cheese
whey and molasses. Earlier studies on the same in fluidized bed and
semifluidized bed biofilm reactors yielded encouraging results. The present
study therefore involves design and analysis of inverse fluidized bed biofilm
reactors for lactic acid synthesis. The performance features of the bioreactor
have been studied both mathematically as well as experimentally. The inverse
fluidized bed biofilm reactor has been found to provide more than 75%
conversion of sucrose/lactose even at high capacities (high feed flow rates)
exceeding 56,000 L/hr, within a reasonably low reactor volume. The fractional
substrate conversion increases, though sluggishly, with increase in feed flow
rate due to bed expansion and also withincrease
in cell mass concentration in biofilm due to enhancement in intrinsic rate of
bioconversion. The inverse fluidized bed biofilm reactor of proposed design
could be safely recommended for the commercial synthesis of polymer grade
lactic acid from waste effluents such as cheese whey and molasses. The low
operating cost of the bioreactor (due to downflow mode of operation) enhances
the economy of the process. This would also help in significantly lowering the
market price of the green plastic (PLLA) and shall promote its large scale
manufacture and utilisation.