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Characterization of an experimental miniature bioreactor for cellular perturbation studies
Author(s) -
Aboka Fredrick O.,
Yang Huiling,
de Jonge Lodewijk P.,
Kerste Rob,
van Winden Wouter A.,
van Gulik Walter M.,
Hoogendijk Rob,
Oudshoorn Arthur,
Heijnen Joseph J.
Publication year - 2006
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/bit.21003
Subject(s) - bioreactor , mass transfer , carbon dioxide , oxygen , volumetric flow rate , chemistry , continuous stirred tank reactor , chemical engineering , chromatography , thermodynamics , engineering , physics , organic chemistry
A mini bioreactor (3.0 mL volume) has been developed and shown to be a versatile tool for rapidly screening and quantifying the response of organisms on environmental perturbations. The mini bioreactor is essentially a plug flow device transformed into a well‐mixed reactor by a recycle flow of the broth. The gas and liquid phases are separated by a silicone membrane. Dynamic mass transfer experiments were performed to determine the mass transfer capacities for oxygen and carbon dioxide. The mass transfer coefficients for oxygen and carbon dioxide were found to be 1.55 ± 0.17 × 10 −5 m/s and 4.52 ± 0.60 × 10 −6 m/s, respectively. Cultivation experiments with the 3.0 mL bioreactor show that (i) it can maintain biomass in the same physiological state as the 4.0 L lab scale bioreactor, (ii) reproducible perturbation experiments such as changing substrate uptake rate can be readily performed and the physiological response monitored quantitatively in terms of the O 2 and CO 2 uptake and production rates. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.