Open AccessCONSTRUCTION AND OPERATION OF AN IMPELLER RHEOMETER FOR ON-LINE RHEOLOGICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF NON-NEWTONIAN FERMENTATION BROTHS
Author(s) -
Alberto Colli Badino,
Maria Cândida Reginato Facciotti,
Willibaldo Schmidell
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
brazilian journal of chemical engineering/brazilian journal of chemical engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.313
H-Index - 52
eISSN - 1678-4383
pISSN - 0104-6632
DOI - 10.1590/s0104-66321997000400010
Subject(s) - rheometer , impeller , rheology , materials science , mechanical engineering , agitator , composite material , engineering
The present work describes the development and operation of a continuous rotational impeller rheometer for on-line rheological measurements in fermentation broths. In an initial step three devices were calibrated, two of them utilizing helical ribbon impellers and the third a six-bladed impeller. The calibration constants obtained were within the range mentioned in the literature, showing consistency with the methodology employed. In the sequence, the system with one of the helical ribbon impellers (HR39) was selected for on-line continuous rheological measurements due to its small dimensions and its wide measurement range. Finally, the performance of the proposed device, in terms of rheological measurements in Aspergillus awamori broths, was compared to that of a commercial bench rheometer. The comparison of on-line and off-line rheological measurements showed a good agreement between both measurement techniques. Furthermore, results suggest that the proposed on-line rheometer features higher sensitivity and easier operation than the commercial rheomete