Alleviating mass transfer limitations in industrial external-loop syngas-to-ethanol fermentation.
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| Title: | Alleviating mass transfer limitations in industrial external-loop syngas-to-ethanol fermentation. |
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| Authors: | Puiman, Lars1 (AUTHOR) L.Puiman@tudelft.nl, Abrahamson, Britt2 (AUTHOR), Lans, Rob G.J.M. van der1 (AUTHOR), Haringa, Cees1 (AUTHOR), Noorman, Henk J.1,3 (AUTHOR), Picioreanu, Cristian4 (AUTHOR) |
| Source: | Chemical Engineering Science. Sep2022, Vol. 259, pN.PAG-N.PAG. 1p. |
| Subjects: | Mass transfer coefficients, Mass transfer, Fermentation, Biomass gasification, Fermentation products industry, Gas analysis |
| Abstract: | [Display omitted] • Detailed analysis on gas transfer rate in industrial syngas fermentation. • CFD reveals mass transfer limitation topography in external-loop gas-lift reactors. • Bubbles smaller than 2 mm are key to reach required mass transfer capacities. • The produced ethanol minimizes bubble size and increases gas hold-up. • Transport limitations in air–water systems can be alleviated in syngas fermentation. Mass transfer limitations in syngas fermentation processes are mostly attributed to poor solubility of CO and H 2 in water. Despite these assumed limitations, a syngas fermentation process has recently been commercialized. Using large-sale external-loop gas-lift reactors (EL-GLR), CO-rich off-gases are converted into ethanol, with high mass transfer performance (7–8.5 g.L-1.h−1). However, when applying established mass transfer correlations, a much poorer performance is predicted (0.3–2.7 g.L-1.h−1). We developed a CFD model, validated on pilot-scale data, to provide detailed insights on hydrodynamics and mass transfer in a large-scale EL-GLR. As produced ethanol could increase gas hold-up (+30%) and decrease the bubble diameter (≤2 mm) compared to air–water mixtures, we found with our model that a high volumetric mass transfer coefficient (650–750 h−1) and mass transfer capacity (7.5–8 g.L-1.h−1) for CO are feasible. Thus, the typical mass transfer limitations encountered in air–water systems can be alleviated in the syngas-to-ethanol fermentation process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| Database: | Engineering Source |
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