Ensuring Good Transferability from Pilot- to Large-Scale Optimized Biotech Bubble Column Designs

Scaling biotechnology processes such as gas fermentation remains resource- and time-intensive, both experimentally and in modeling. To improve the efficiency of reactor geometry optimization, we evaluated the transferability of findings from pilot-scale (950 L) simulations to industrial-scale simulations (950 m³). At constant geometric ratios and aeration (vvm) across scales, highly similar flow patterns were observed, especially in airlift reactors. Reactor design enhancements at the pilot scale were transferable to the industrial scale, delivering improvements of up to 17% for k_La. Surprisingly, the commercial simulation resulted in an order-of-magnitude-higher gas holdup and k_La than the pilot, owing to a longer bubble residence time in the taller vessel. Thus, transferability can be further enhanced by enforcing constant superficial gas velocity between scales. This leads to more similar CO transfer rates and regime distributions inside the tank but will challenge reaching sufficient mass transfer for industrial applications.