What Is The Difference Between A Bioreactor And A Chemical Reactor
Nov 03, 2023
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The main difference between chemical reactors and bioreactors lies in their design and usage.
A chemical reactor is a device used for conducting chemical reactions. It usually consists of a container that contains reactants, catalysts, and media. The main purpose of a chemical reactor is to obtain the required products through chemical reactions under certain conditions. A bioreactor is a device used for conducting biological reactions or processes. It is usually designed to provide suitable growth conditions and environment to support the growth and reproduction of microorganisms or cells. The main purpose of a bioreactor is to produce the required products, such as proteins, cellular metabolites, or other biological substances, through biological processes. Therefore, the main difference between chemical reactors and bioreactors lies in their design and usage. Chemical reactors are mainly used for chemical reactions, while bioreactors are mainly used to support biological processes.
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The design characteristics of chemical reactors mainly include the following points:
1. Ensure that the molecules of the reactant have an equal residence time in the reactor, so that the concentration and chemical reaction rate of the reactant at any point in the reactor do not change with time, only with the length of the tube.
2. Reactors have the characteristics of small volume, large specific surface area, and large heat transfer area per unit volume, making them particularly suitable for reactions with large thermal effects.
3. Due to the fast reaction speed and flow rate of reactants in the reactor, its production capacity is high.
4. Reactors are suitable for large-scale and continuous chemical production.
In addition, the design of chemical reactors also needs to consider factors such as operating pressure, temperature, material flow rate and reaction rate, and the use of catalysts. Different types of chemical reactors, such as kettle reactors, tube reactors, tower reactors, fixed bed reactors, and fluidized bed reactors, each have their own characteristics and applicability.
There are many types of chemical reactors, and the following are several common chemical reactors:
1. Kettle reactor: Kettle reactor, also known as tank or pot reactor, is a type of reactor with a relatively simple structure and wide application among various reactors. It can be used for homogeneous reactions or for heterogeneous reactions mainly in the liquid phase. Such as heterogeneous liquid phase, liquid-solid phase, gas-liquid phase, gas-liquid solid phase, etc. The structure of a kettle reactor mainly consists of four parts: a shell, a stirring device, a shaft seal, and a heat exchange device.
2. Tubular reactor: In chemical production, a continuously operated tubular reactor with a large aspect ratio can be approximated as an ideal displacement flow reactor (PFR). It is suitable for both liquid phase reactions and gas phase reactions. Due to its ability to withstand high pressures, PFR is particularly suitable for pressurized reactions. It has the advantages of small volume, large specific surface area, less backmixing, continuous changes in reaction parameters, and easy control. However, for slow reactions, there is a need for long pipes and large pressure drop.
3. Piston flow reactor: The characteristic of this reactor is to assume that there is no reverse mixing (backmixing) between materials entering the reactor at different times. The reactant flows along the length of the tube, and the reaction time is a function of the tube length. Its concentration changes with the flow direction from one cross-section to another.
In addition, there are different types of chemical reactors such as multi tube parallel tube reactors and U-tube reactors.
The design characteristics of bioreactors mainly include the following points:
1. Suitable for large-scale cultivation: Bioreactors have a large volume and surface area, which can provide sufficient space for cell growth and are suitable for large-scale cultivation.
2. Uniform mixing: The mixing effect in the bioreactor is good, which can ensure the uniform distribution of cells in the culture medium, which is conducive to cell growth and metabolism.
3. Maintain appropriate environmental conditions: Bioreactors are usually equipped with control devices such as temperature, pH, and dissolved oxygen, which can maintain appropriate environmental conditions and facilitate cell growth and metabolism.
4. Easy operation: The operation of the bioreactor is relatively simple, allowing for convenient operations such as feeding, discharging, stirring, and temperature control.
5. Adapt to multiple cell types: Bioreactors are suitable for various cell types, such as bacteria, yeast, animal cells, etc., and can be designed according to the needs of different cell types.
6. Ensure the quality of cellular metabolites: The bioreactor can provide suitable environmental conditions to ensure stable and compliant quality of cellular metabolites.
7. Avoiding pollution: The bioreactor design has measures to avoid pollution, such as sealing devices, filters, etc., which can effectively avoid the impact of external pollution on cell culture.
Different types of bioreactors also have their unique design characteristics, such as stirred tank bioreactors, which have advantages such as high mixing degree and wide adaptability, and are suitable for large-scale cultivation; The airlift bioreactor, which agitates the culture medium through air circulation, has advantages such as high oxygen transfer efficiency and easy operation, making it suitable for large-scale cultivation of plant cells; The immobilized cell bioreactor adopts immobilization technology, which can improve the stability of cells and the efficiency of continuous culture; The light bioreactor is suitable for the cultivation of plant cells by setting up a light system.
Common bioreactors:
1. Stirred bioreactor: This type of reactor has the advantages of high mixing degree, wide adaptability, and easy control of temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, and nutrient concentration inside the reactor, making it widely used in large-scale cultivation.
2. Airlift bioreactor: By stirring the culture medium through air circulation, it has high oxygen transfer efficiency, relatively simple reactor structure and operation, and is suitable for large-scale cultivation of plant cells.
3. Immobilized cell bioreactors: divided into packed bed bioreactors and fluidized bed bioreactors. The packed bed bioreactor is often prone to particle breakage and blockage due to the compression between particles. In a fluidized bed bioreactor, the energy of the fluid is utilized to keep the supporting particles in a suspended state, resulting in good mixing effect. However, the shear force of the fluid and the collision of particles often cause particle damage and cell efflux.
4. Light bioreactor: A light system is installed on top of a stirred or airlift bioreactor, which is suitable for the cultivation of plant cells.
5. Drum bioreactor: It has the advantages of uniform suspension system, low shear environment, high oxygen supply efficiency, and preventing cell wall adhesion, making it suitable for the cultivation of high-density plant suspended cells.
Summarization:
The main difference between chemical reactors and bioreactors lies in their design and usage. Chemical reactors are mainly used for chemical reactions, while bioreactors are mainly used to support biological processes. Chemical reactors usually need to react under high temperature and pressure conditions, while bioreactors usually react at room temperature and pressure. In addition, the reaction rate of chemical reactors is faster, while the reaction rate of bioreactors is slower. The concentration of products in chemical reactors is usually high, while the concentration of products in bioreactors is relatively low. The selectivity of chemical reactors is low, while the selectivity of bioreactors is high.