OXYGEN-TRANSFER ENHANCEMENT IN AQUEOUS PERFLUOROCARBON FERMENTATION SYSTEMS .1. EXPERIMENTAL-OBSERVATIONS

A new fiber‐optic dissolved oxygen sensing technique was applied to the study of two‐phase aqueous/perfluorocarbon (pfc) dispersions. These dispersions were examined for their oxygen transfer enhancement capability in the absence and presence of an oxygen‐consuming reaction. For the pfc‐in‐water dispersions, oxygen uptake rate (OUR) enhancements were equal both with and without oxygen‐consuming cells present in the aqueous phase. In contrast, for water‐in‐pfc dispersions, OUR enhancements inthe presence of reaction were limited by oxygen diffusion across the aqueous phase droplets. Nevertheless, enhancement factors of 5–10 on an aqueous phase volume basis were obtained in a 75% pfc dispersion.These oxygen transfer enhancements were directly translatable into enhancements in overall fermenter productivity for actual microbial cultivation systems. Copyright © 1990 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.