INVESTIGATION OF THE STRUCTURE OF 2-PHASE FLOW FERMENTATION MODEL MEDIA IN BUBBLE-COLUMN BIOREACTORS .3. TRANSVERSE VARIATION OF LOCAL PROPERTIES AS A RESULT OF INSERTING O-2 ELECTRODES AND-OR TILTING THE COLUMN

Electrical conductivity microprobes have been used to estimate the transverse variation of bubble size, local gas holdup and local specific gas/liquid interfacial area in bench scale bubble column bioreactors containing fermentation model media. Inserted O2-electrodes and plane parallel windows alter the structure of the two phase flow. Even slight tilting of the column strongly influences the transverse profiles of the bubble size and local gas holdup. The larger bubbles are collected at the wall, where they can be redispersed. These observations open up new possibilities for the construction of bubble column bioreactors. © 1979 Springer-Verlag.