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Influence of high biomass concentrations on alkane solubilities
Author(s) -
Davison Brian H.,
Barton John W.,
Klasson K. Thomas,
Francisco Alex B.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
biotechnology and bioengineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.136
H-Index - 189
eISSN - 1097-0290
pISSN - 0006-3592
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-0290(20000505)68:3<279::aid-bit6>3.0.co;2-p
Subject(s) - propane , alkane , solubility , biomass (ecology) , chemistry , environmental chemistry , chemical engineering , thermodynamics , hydrocarbon , organic chemistry , ecology , biology , physics , engineering
Alkane solubilities were measured experimentally for high‐density biomass. The resulting Henry's law constants for propane were found to decrease significantly for both dense yeast suspensions and an actual propane‐degrading biofilm consortium. At the biomass densities of a typical biofilm, propane solubility was about an order of magnitude greater than that in pure water. For example, a dense biofilm had a propane Henry's law constant of 0.09 ± 0.04 atm m 3 mol −1 compared to 0.6 ± 0.1 atm m 3 mol −1 measured in pure water. The results were modeled with mixing rules and compared with octanol‐water mixtures. Hydrogels (agar) and salts decreased the alkane solubility. By considering a theoretical solubility of propane in dry biomass, estimates were made of intrinsic Henry's law constants for propane in pure yeast and biomass, which were 13 ± 2 and 5 ± 2 atm kg biomass mol −1 for yeast and biofilm consortium, respectively. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Biotechnol Bioeng 68: 279–284, 2000.