Lingke Feng , Rong Pan , Ke Ning , Wen Sun , Yirong Chen , Yuanyuan Xie , Mingzhu Wang , Yan Li , Ling Yu
{"title":"The impact of 3D tumor spheroid maturity on cell migration and invasion dynamics","authors":"Lingke Feng , Rong Pan , Ke Ning , Wen Sun , Yirong Chen , Yuanyuan Xie , Mingzhu Wang , Yan Li , Ling Yu","doi":"10.1016/j.bej.2024.109567","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.bej.2024.109567","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Cell motility is crucial in cancer metastasis, and understanding its regulation in tumor cells is vital for developing anti-metastatic therapies. Traditional 2D cell culture assays provide insights into cell migration but fail to replicate the complex 3D architecture of tissues <em>in vivo</em>. 3D cell culture models like tumor spheroids have been applied for cell migration tests. This study investigates the role of spheroid maturity in tumor cell motility, hypothesizing that spheroid maturity mirrors physiological conditions in solid tumors. Human prostate (DU 145), breast (MCF-7), and murine breast (EMT-6) cancer cells were cultured into spheroids of varying time (3, 7, and 11 days). The migration and invasion of these spheroids were analyzed, revealing that 11-day-old DU 145 spheroids demonstrated the greatest horizontal migration, correlating with RNA-seq data showing increased cell adhesion, cytoskeleton dynamics, and motility pathways. Confocal microscopy and single-cell multimode analyzer indicated higher reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels in mature spheroids, potentially activating motility pathways. Additionally, DU 145 spheroids were treated with chemotherapy reagent Doxorubicin (DOX), and the results showed that spheroids culture for 7 and 11 days exhibited greater resistance to DOX compared to spheroids cultured for 3 days. These findings highlighted the importance of considering spheroid maturity in cancer research and drug development, emphasizing the need for systematic analysis of spheroid growth conditions to ensure reproducible and reliable experimental settings.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8766,"journal":{"name":"Biochemical Engineering Journal","volume":"213 ","pages":"Article 109567"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-11-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142654704","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Advanced anaerobic digestion by co-immobilization of anaerobic microbes and conductive particles in hydrogel for enhanced methane production performance","authors":"Stella Chan , Kento Nishi , Mitsuhiko Koyama , Tatsushi Matsuyama , Junichi Ida","doi":"10.1016/j.bej.2024.109563","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.bej.2024.109563","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Recent research has increasingly focused on the enhancement of anaerobic digestion (AD) through direct interspecies electron transfer (DIET) facilitated by conductive particles (CP). Although this approach can significantly accelerate the AD process, the contact efficiency between CPs and AD microbes is relatively low due to the flow of water in a dispersed condition, leading to possible DIET inefficiency. In this study, a unique approach involving the “co-immobilization” of anaerobic microbes and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) as CP into a hydrogel matrix was developed to improve the AD process. The advantages of this method include improved contact efficiency between microbes and CPs for enhanced DIET, and increased CP retention within the reactor, thereby omitting the need to compensate for CP washout. The methane production rate for the co-immobilized hydrogel was 2.5-fold and 1.9-fold faster than that of the control (dispersed sludge) and conventional DIET (dispersed sludge with MWCNT addition), respectively. Microbial analysis indicated the enrichment of functional microbes such as <em>Anaerolineacea</em>, <em>Sedimentibacteraceae, Rhodocyclaceae,</em> and <em>Methanothrichaceae,</em> which could be involved in the DIET under co-immobilized conditions. These results demonstrate the potential of the proposed method for realizing an advanced continuous AD process through improved DIET.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8766,"journal":{"name":"Biochemical Engineering Journal","volume":"213 ","pages":"Article 109563"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-11-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142654702","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Yulun Wu , Zhao Li , Xin Wang , Zaiyin Yu , Weiguang Mao , Cai Cheng , Guanmou Che , Jun Cheng
{"title":"Developing an off-site bicarbonation absorber system to promote microalgal fixation of CO2 in exhaust gas from biogas upgrading","authors":"Yulun Wu , Zhao Li , Xin Wang , Zaiyin Yu , Weiguang Mao , Cai Cheng , Guanmou Che , Jun Cheng","doi":"10.1016/j.bej.2024.109558","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.bej.2024.109558","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In order to address the risk of explosion due to CH<sub>4</sub> from exhaust gas produced during biogas upgrading in closed carbon fixation systems employing photosynthetic microalgae, an off-site bicarbonation absorber system was developed to promote microalgal CO<sub>2</sub> fixation under atmospheric pressure. The abundant CO<sub>2</sub> in the biogas upgrading exhaust gas (≥90 vol% CO<sub>2</sub>, ≤10 vol% CH<sub>4</sub>) reacted with a Na<sub>2</sub>CO<sub>3</sub> solution in the off-site bicarbonation absorber to produce NaHCO<sub>3</sub>, which was used as carbon source for microalgal growth in enclosed column photobioreactors. After the reaction, CH<sub>4</sub> was discharged outside the bicarbonation absorber because it did not react with the Na<sub>2</sub>CO<sub>3</sub> solution and was extremely difficult to dissolve in water, thereby avoiding the explosion risk due to accumulated CH<sub>4</sub> in the enclosed column photobioreactors. The experimental results showed that the <em>Spirulina</em> growth rate first increased 1.7 times, peaking at 0.6 g/L/d, and then decreased when the bicarbonation reaction time (optimal 50 min), absorber diameter (optimal 10 cm), initial Na<sub>2</sub>CO<sub>3</sub> concentration (optimal 173 mM), and exhaust gas aeration rate (optimal 100 sccm) increased. The optimal molar ratio of NaHCO<sub>3</sub> to total inorganic carbon in the bicarbonation absorber solution reached 79 %. The sufficient HCO<sub>3</sub><sup>-</sup> supply and suitable pH of the microalgal solution improved the synthesis of photosynthetic pigments in the microalgal cells and enhanced their photochemical efficiency and carbon sequestration rates.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8766,"journal":{"name":"Biochemical Engineering Journal","volume":"213 ","pages":"Article 109558"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-11-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142654695","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Gaoyuang Shang , Jinpeng Yu , Kai Cui , Hong Zhang , Yuhan Guo , Menglong Zhao , Chengjun Wang , Kun Guo
{"title":"A novel tubular single-chamber microbial electrolysis cell for efficient methane production from industrial potato starch wastewater","authors":"Gaoyuang Shang , Jinpeng Yu , Kai Cui , Hong Zhang , Yuhan Guo , Menglong Zhao , Chengjun Wang , Kun Guo","doi":"10.1016/j.bej.2024.109561","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.bej.2024.109561","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The integration of microbial electrolysis cells (MEC) with anaerobic digestion (AD) shows great promise for enhancing methane production from high-COD wastewater. However, an efficient MEC-AD reactor design remains elusive. Here, a novel tubular single-chamber MEC-AD reactor was constructed to treat potato starch wastewater (COD over 20,000 mg/L). The concentric and compact design of the stainless-steel cathode and anode reduced internal resistance, resulting in enhanced methane production. Applying −0.2 V vs. Ag/AgCl to the anode increased methane production by 1.73 times compared to the open circuit and halved hydraulic retention time. Moreover, the reactor achieved an average methane content of 82.57 %, which was 23.89 % higher than the open circuit. The reactor showed a total COD removal of 92.2 %, which was 24 % higher than the open circuit. Additionally, base consumption to maintain pH was reduced to one-sixth of that in conventional AD, preventing volatile fatty acid accumulation. Microbial analysis showed <em>Geobacter</em> (63.4 %) and <em>Methanobacterium</em> (96.8 %) were highly enriched in the anode and cathode biofilms, respectively. The proportion of fermentative bacteria also increased in the MEC-AD system. These results demonstrate the effectiveness of the tubular single-chamber MEC-AD reactor in enhancing methane production from potato starch wastewater, with strong potential for scale-up applications.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8766,"journal":{"name":"Biochemical Engineering Journal","volume":"213 ","pages":"Article 109561"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-11-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142654703","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Improvement of sludge dewatering performance by persulfate advanced oxidation combined with LDH: Synergistic effect of free radical and non-free radical and reuse of deep-dewatered sludge cake","authors":"Jingyu Lv, Lei Song, Yang Guo","doi":"10.1016/j.bej.2024.109560","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.bej.2024.109560","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The high-water content of sludge in wastewater plant will influence the transportation and utilization. In this study, a new method for improving sludge dewatering by pyrite (FeS<sub>2</sub>) activated persulfate (PMS) combined with layered double hydroxide (LDH) was proposed. After conditioning, the water content (Wc) and specific resistance (SRF) of sludge decreased from 97.12 % and 1.83 × 10<sup>13</sup> m/kg to 71.39 % and 1.84 × 10<sup>12</sup> m/kg, severally. SEM and particle size analysis showed the system could destroy sludge cells effectively.The mechanism analysis of protein and polysaccharide content, 3D-EEM, FTIR, XPS results showed that FeS<sub>2</sub>/PMS-LDH combined system was beneficial to break down the sludge extracellular polymer (EPS), transform and accumulate the organic matter into the EPS outer layer, release the bound water. Both free radical and non-free radical play a role in oxidation, and they cooperate to break EPS. The effective phosphate adsorption performance of the biochar adsorbent prepared from dehydrated sludge cake was also investigated. The adsorption behavior of phosphate on biochar from dewatered sludge cake belongs to uniform chemical monolayer adsorption. When T = 298k, PH = 5, the maximum adsorption capacity is 20.255 mg/g. The introduction of LDH is helpful to enhance the sludge dewatering and the adsorption of phosphate. To sum up, the combined conditioning method considers the effectiveness of sludge dewatering and the feasibility of sludge cake disposal and utilization.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8766,"journal":{"name":"Biochemical Engineering Journal","volume":"213 ","pages":"Article 109560"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-11-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142654694","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Do Thi Cam Van , Dang Thi Mai , Bui Thi Thu Uyen , Nguyen Thi Phuong Dung , Lu Thi Thu Ha , Nguyen Thi Lieu , Dang Nhat Minh , Tran Dang Thuan , Le Truong Giang
{"title":"Sustainable remediation of piggery wastewater using a novel mixotrophic Chlorella sorokiniana Cbeo for high value biomass production","authors":"Do Thi Cam Van , Dang Thi Mai , Bui Thi Thu Uyen , Nguyen Thi Phuong Dung , Lu Thi Thu Ha , Nguyen Thi Lieu , Dang Nhat Minh , Tran Dang Thuan , Le Truong Giang","doi":"10.1016/j.bej.2024.109555","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.bej.2024.109555","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Piggery wastewater (PW) contains high density of organic carbon (COD), nitrogen (NH<sub>4</sub><sup>+</sup>-N and TN) and phosphorous (TP), which are essential nutrients for microalgae growth. This work was attempted to use a newly isolate <em>Chlorella sorokiniana C</em><sub><em>beo</em></sub> for recovery these compounds into its biomass via mixotrophic cultivation. Critical factors including level of ammonia, C/N ratio, pH, light intensity, sterilized/unsterilized media, and indoor/outdoor cultivations affecting biomass production and nutrients removal efficiencies were investigated. Data revealed that <em>C</em>. <em>sorokiniana C</em><sub><em>beo</em></sub> achieved the optimal growth in the unsterilized medium at NH<sub>4</sub><sup>+</sup>-N concentration, C/N ratio, initial pH, and light intensity of 250 mg/L, 10/1, 7, and 150 μmol/m<sup>2</sup>/s, respectively. Under the optimal conditions, dry cell weight (DCW) reached the maximal level of 4.30 g/L, which was slightly higher than 4.14 g/L determined for the sterilized medium. In 30 L-scale photobioreactor, <em>C. sorokiniana C</em><sub><em>beo</em></sub> grown under indoor and outdoor achieved DCW of 3.61 and 3.19 g/L, respectively. COD, NH<sub>4</sub><sup>+</sup>-N, TN, TP removal efficiencies for both conditions were determined as 91.9–96.7, 96.6–99.7, 96.2–96.4, and 98.2–100 %, respectively. The <em>C. sorokiniana C</em><sub><em>beo</em></sub> biomass contained 14–27 % lipid, 25–32 % carbohydrate, 44–48 % protein, and 0.25–0.97 % lutein. Interestingly, α-Linolenic acid (C18:3n3) was 19.84 –27.0 % of the total fatty acids. <em>C. sorokiniana C</em><sub><em>beo</em></sub> is the promising algal strain for development of a sustainable biorefinery of PW.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8766,"journal":{"name":"Biochemical Engineering Journal","volume":"213 ","pages":"Article 109555"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-11-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142654696","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Patrick Romann , Dan Trunov , Ondřej Šrom , Harry L.T. Lee , Kevin S. Lee , Ryan Trocki , David Ephraim , Jean-Marc Bielser , Jonathan Souquet , Miroslav Šoóš , Thomas K. Villiger
{"title":"Experimental determination of maximum shear stress in Mobius® Breez perfusion microbioreactors and comparative analysis with stirred tank bioreactors","authors":"Patrick Romann , Dan Trunov , Ondřej Šrom , Harry L.T. Lee , Kevin S. Lee , Ryan Trocki , David Ephraim , Jean-Marc Bielser , Jonathan Souquet , Miroslav Šoóš , Thomas K. Villiger","doi":"10.1016/j.bej.2024.109556","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.bej.2024.109556","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Perfusion processes have experienced increased popularity in recent years due to their ability to sustain high cell densities and productivities in biopharmaceutical production, offering advantages over traditional batch and fed-batch cultivation methods. The Mobius® Breez microbioreactor significantly reduces experimental effort by downsizing the classical volume of perfusion bioreactors to the mL range and thus represents a valuable tool for process development. However, miniaturization has raised questions regarding comparability with traditional bioreactors in terms of the physical environment, such as hydrodynamic shear stress. Therefore, the maximum hydrodynamic shear stress, cultivation performance, and membrane-wall contact were evaluated to elucidate the system's behavior. Findings reveal two distinct operational conditions, distinguished by the presence or absence of membrane-wall contact, resulting in varying levels of hydrodynamic stress. Conditions lacking membrane contact demonstrate stress levels within safe operating thresholds for CHO cells, while those involving membrane contact exceed these thresholds, potentially leading to cell damage. Through the identification of critical frequencies of membrane motion, this study offers insights for optimizing microbioreactor operation and enhancing overall bioprocess efficiency.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8766,"journal":{"name":"Biochemical Engineering Journal","volume":"213 ","pages":"Article 109556"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-11-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142654700","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Qiang Fu , Yongdan Wang , Emily Doleh , Mark Blenner , Seongkyu Yoon
{"title":"Development of inducible packaging cell line for rAAV production via CRISPR-Cas9 mediated site-specific integration","authors":"Qiang Fu , Yongdan Wang , Emily Doleh , Mark Blenner , Seongkyu Yoon","doi":"10.1016/j.bej.2024.109552","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.bej.2024.109552","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>AAV-mediated gene therapy is a quickly growing segment of the pharmaceutical market; however, the current transient transfection process to produce rAAV has several challenges. The stable cells are ideal for large-scale continuous production, overcoming the drawbacks in the current transient transfection and streamlining rAAV production. In this study, we proposed to use synthetic inducible promoters to control the viral component expression and develop the baseline of HEK293T stable cells via site-specific integration mediated with CRISPR-Cas9, targeting safe harbor sites of human genome (ROSA26, AAVS1, and CCR5 locus). With a total of three round integrations, stable cell pools were developed and evaluated at each round of integration. Single clones were further characterized for each integration round. Regarding the stable pools, the 5’ and 3’ junction PCR results confirmed the site-specific integration to each locus. The genome copy result showed that AAV components, including Rep78/68, E2A, E4orf6, Cap, and Rep52/40, were successfully integrated into the host cell genome. Genome and capsid titer after induction confirmed rAAV production for stable cell pools in each round. The packaging cell line (after 2nd round integration) was able to produce rAAV. However, it was observed that the genome titer was ten-fold lower than that of rAAV products done with triple plasmids transfection. The out-to-out PCR and qPCR assay results further confirm the site-specific integration. This research demonstrates the feasibility of developing the inducible stable cell line with the refactored viral vectors via a site-specific integration.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8766,"journal":{"name":"Biochemical Engineering Journal","volume":"213 ","pages":"Article 109552"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-10-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142586055","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Impact of tetracycline on mixotrophic denitrification process under different sulfur to nitrogen ratios","authors":"Bohan Lv , Yang-Guo Zhao , Yue Chen , Mupindu Progress , Mengchun Gao , Liang Guo , Junyuan Ji , Chunji Jin","doi":"10.1016/j.bej.2024.109557","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.bej.2024.109557","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The sulfur-based autotrophic-heterotrophic denitrification, i.e., mixotrophic denitrification, is suitable for the nitrate and antibiotics removal in aquaculture tailwater at a low COD to nitrogen (C/N) ratio. This study focused on the effect of tetracycline (TC) on mixotrophic denitrification under different S/N ratios. Two bioreactors were simultaneously operated with or without dosing tetracycline under different sulfur to nitrogen (S/N) ratios of 3.94, 4.64 and 5.94. The results showed that the removal rate of total inorganic nitrogen (TIN) increased from 0.25 to 0.69 mg N L<sup>−1</sup> min<sup>−1</sup> with the rise of S/N ratio, while TC dosage significantly declined the removal efficiency of TIN. Dissimilatory nitrogen reduction to ammonia (DNRA) bacteria was detected when exposing to TC, indicating that DNRA presented more resistance to TC. The removal efficiency of TC in the denitrification system reached the maximum of 22.87 % at S/N of 4.64. Meanwhile the genus <em>Marinicella</em> was detected at this phase, which was conducive to the degradation of organic pollutants. This study found that TC promoted the accumulation of ammonia nitrogen, and had a great effect on sulfur autotrophic bacteria at S/N of 5.94. The removal of TC mainly depended on microbial co-metabolism, and there was a significant correlation between the reduction of TC concentration and the decrease of sulfur compounds (p < 0.05). 4.64 is the best S/N ratio for the mixotrophic denitrification process, which revealed maximum nitrate and TC removal rates.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8766,"journal":{"name":"Biochemical Engineering Journal","volume":"213 ","pages":"Article 109557"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-10-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142577866","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Pros and cons of airlift and bubble column bioreactors: How internals improve performance","authors":"Carolin Bokelmann , Jason Bromley , Ralf Takors","doi":"10.1016/j.bej.2024.109539","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.bej.2024.109539","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Gas fermentation is a promising technology of high commercial interest, particularly for capturing CO<sub>2</sub> and CO from industrial off-gases to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and replace fossil fuels for bulk chemical production. Therefore, evaluating promising bioreactor settings <em>ab initio</em> is a crucial step. Whereas alternate configurations may be tested in laborious scale up studies, the procedure may be accelerated by <em>in silico</em> studies that accompany or even partially replace wet-lab work once the models are validated. In this context, the current study compares various pneumatically agitated reactor types – bubble column reactor (BCR), annulus- and center-rising internal-loop airlift reactor (AR-IL-ALR and CR-IL-ALR), and external-loop airlift reactor (EL-ALR) – to identify advantages and disadvantages for the given application based on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models. Process performance is optimized by introducing internal structures to guide the flow. Despite a significant increase in the mass transfer coefficient (<span><math><mrow><msub><mrow><mi>k</mi></mrow><mrow><mi>L</mi></mrow></msub><mi>a</mi></mrow></math></span>) through internal modifications, the CR-IL-ALR still exhibited the poorest performance. The optimized AR-IL-ALR demonstrated good mixing and, after introducing an open-cone shaped internal in the head part and a conical bottom, superior mass transfer, achieving an enhancement over 10 % in the mass transfer coefficient to 315 1/h. This study thereby outlines the potential of internal structures for process improvement, as well as the value of <em>a priori in silico</em> design of reactor configurations.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8766,"journal":{"name":"Biochemical Engineering Journal","volume":"213 ","pages":"Article 109539"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-10-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142577864","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}