Attempt all questions:

1. An enzyme manufacturer in the same industrial park as your antibiotic factory has a re-conditioned 25 m
3

fermenter for sale. You are in the market for a cheap 25 m

3 fermenter; however the vessel on offer is fitted
with a 50 m steel helical cooling-coil with inner pipe-diameter 7 cm. You propose to use the fermenter for
your newest production organism which is known to have a maximum oxygen demand of 100 mol m
-3
h
-1

at its optimum culture temperature of 30
0
C . You consider that the 3-m diameter vessel should be stirred
with a 1.5m diameter turbine-impeller operated at an average speed of 40 rpm. The fermentation fluid can
be assumed to have the properties of water. If 25 m
3
h
-1
cooling water at 12
0
C

is available, should you make
an offer for the secondhand fermenter and cooling coil?
Hint: The relationship for fermenter side heat transfer coefficient is
(10)
2. Heat is transferred from one fluid to a second fluid across a metal wall. The film coefficients are 1.2 and
1.7 kW m
-2
K
-1
. The metal is 6-mm thick and has a thermal conductivity of 19 W m
-1
K
-1
. On one side of
the wall there is a scale deposit with a fouling factor estimated at 830 W m
-2
K
-1
. What is the overall heat-
transfer coefficient? (5)

3. Explain in brief the various types of heat exchangers commonly used in bioprocess industries. (5)


Attempt all questions:
An enzyme manufacturer in the same industrial park as your antibiotic factory has a re-conditioned 25 m
3
fermenter
for sale. You are in the market for a cheap 25 m

3 fermenter; however the vessel on offer is fitted with a 50 m steel
helical cooling-coil with inner pipe-diameter 7 cm. You propose to use the fermenter for your newest production
organism which is known to have a maximum oxygen demand of 100 mol m
-3
h
-1
at its optimum culture temperature
of 30
0
C . You consider that the 3-m diameter vessel should be stirred with a 1.5m diameter turbine-impeller
operated at an average speed of 40 rpm. The fermentation fluid can be assumed to have the properties of water. If 25
m
3
h
-1
cooling water at 12
0
C

is available, should you make an offer for the secondhand fermenter and cooling coil?
Hint: The relationship for fermenter side heat transfer coefficient is
(10)
1. Heat is transferred from one fluid to a second fluid across a metal wall. The film coefficients are 1.2 and
1.7 kW m
-2
K
-1
. The metal is 6-mm thick and has a thermal conductivity of 19 W m
-1
K
-1
. On one side of
the wall there is a scale deposit with a fouling factor estimated at 830 W m
-2
K
-1
. What is the overall heat-
transfer coefficient? (5)

2. Explain in brief the various types of heat exchangers commonly used in bioprocess industries. (5)