Abstract
Abstract Maximum water holding capacity of a mixture of sugarcane bagasse and wheat bran was determined in static conditions and in a drum rotated at 1 rpm. The variables filling degree, water flow rate, volume of added water and number of sprinklers were tested to control the moisture content of the solid and the number of rotations to achieve homogeneous moisture content. None of the selected variables was significant, giving the apparatus high flexibility to control moisture content. For the heat transfer experiments, the tested variables were introduction of air through an inner tube amidst the particles, water sprinkling over the bed and drum rotation. The selected variables represented limited mechanisms of heat removal, although efficient when coupled with the drum rotation. The results are of value to control the temperature and the moisture content in solid-state cultivation bioreactors.
Highlights
Solid-state cultivation (SSC) is a term commonly used to characterize the growth of microorganisms in a wet solid substrate in the absence of dripping water (Pandey, 2003)
Maximum water holding capacity Experiments were carried out to determine the maximum water holding capacity (WHC) of a mixture of sugar cane bagasse and wheat bran at two initial moisture contents, 7.61 and 48.30%, corresponding to the MC obtained after drying the bagasse and the MC of the bagasse as it was provided by the sugar cane mill, respectively
This hypothesis is reinforced by the fact that the initial moisture content of the samples did not influence the final MC, pointing out that the liquid was not absorbed by the solid phase
Summary
Solid-state cultivation (SSC) is a term commonly used to characterize the growth of microorganisms in a wet solid substrate in the absence of dripping water (Pandey, 2003). This water restriction favors the use of filamentous fungi, since the imposed conditions are similar to their natural habitat and hamper the possibility of exogenous contamination by bacteria (Hölker and Lenz, 2005). In SSC, the gas phase is continuous and the presence of a particulate solid phase characterizes a heterogeneous system in which the water is incorporated into both phases, not always in equilibrium This non-equilibrium affects the water activity (αw), which is defined as the ratio between. Undesirable gradients of temperature are noted during the cultivation, promoting harmful loss of water from the substrate to the continuous gas phase
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