J. Thibault et al., Reassessment of the estimation of dissolved oxygen concentration profile and K(L)a in solid-state fermentation, PROCESS BIO, 36(1-2), 2000, pp. 9-18
Oxygen mass transfer in aerobic microbial growth systems is often a limitin
g factor for optimal growth and productivity. Oxygen mass transfer has been
widely studied in submerged fermentations but has attracted as yet little
attention for solid state fermentations. The parallel to submerged fermenta
tion has led to the incorrect interpretation and use of the overall oxygen
mass transfer coefficient (K(L)a) to assess the ability of a particular fer
mentation system to supply the oxygen to microorganisms. The use of K(L)a,
as traditionally defined, should be used with caution in solid substrate fe
rmentation systems because there is no convection on the liquid side of the
medium, and oxygen is consumed in the biofilm. Hence, K(L)a must be redefi
ned for solid state fermentation. In this payer, the use of oxygen mass tra
nsfer coefficients in solid state fermentations is clarified. Published lit
erature data were analysed with a simple pseudo-steady-state model and used
to discuss the influence of the biofilm thickness, the dissolved oxygen di
ffusion coefficient, the convective gas mass transfer coefficient, and the
gas flow rate on the oxygen mass transfer coefficient in solid state fermen
tations. (C) 2000 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.