Influence of operational parameters on the fluid-side mass transfer resistance observed in a packed bed bioreactor.

The influence of mass transfer on productivity as well as the performance of packed bed bioreactor was determined by varying a number of parameters; flow rate, glucose concentration and polymers (chitosan). Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells were immobilized in chitosan and non-chitosan coated alginate beads to demonstrate the effect on external mass transfer by substrate consumption time, lag phase and ethanol production. The results indicate that coating has a significant effect on the lag phase duration, being 30-40 min higher than non-coated beads.