Abstract
The exact knowledge of Drop Size Distributions (DSD) plays a major role in various fields of applications to control and optimise processes as well as reduce waste. In the microbial production of advanced biofuels, oil droplets are produced under turbulent conditions in an aqueous medium containing many surface active components, which might hinder the recovery of the product. Knowledge of DSD is thus essential for process optimisation. This study demonstrates the capability of a photo-optical measurement method for DSD measurement in fermentation broth and in plate separators aimed at cost reduction in the microbial production of advanced biofuels. Measurements were made with model mixtures in a bioreactor, and at the inlet and outlet of a plate separator. In the bioreactor, the method was effective in detecting a broad range of droplet sizes and in differentiating other disperse components (e.g. microbial cells and gas bubbles). In the plate separator, the method was effective in determining the influence of the varied parameters on the separation efficiency.
Highlights
In the microbial production of advanced biofuels, oil droplets are produced under turbulent conditions in an aqueous medium containing many surface active components, which might hinder the recovery of the product
This study demonstrates the capability of a photo-optical measurement method for Drop Size Distributions (DSD) measurement in fermentation broth and in plate separators aimed at cost reduction in the microbial production of advanced biofuels
One of the recent advances in the field of biofuels is the application of synthetic biology to develop microorganisms that produce long chain hydrocarbons, which are known as advanced biofuels (Cuellar and van der Wielen, 2015)
Summary
One of the recent advances in the field of biofuels is the application of synthetic biology to develop microorganisms that produce long chain hydrocarbons, which are known as advanced biofuels (Cuellar and van der Wielen, 2015). For economically feasible production of the biofuel, the recovery process has to be cheap, so a low cost process technology should be used Technologies such as gas enhanced oil recovery (Heeres et al, 2016), magnetic nanoparticles (Furtado et al, 2015) and catastrophic phase inversion (Glonke et al, 2016) have been proposed as alternative de-emulsification methods. Gravity separators such as plate droplet separators offer opportunities for either concentrating the disperse phase prior to one of the de-emulsification methods above, or for the complete separation of the disperse phase when the droplet stabilisation can be mitigated during the conversion process. In-situ measurement methods overcome these issues, but should be able to differentiate other disperse phases present in the broth such as gas bubbles and the microorganisms, and must not compromise the sterility of the system
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