Oxygen Transfer Effects in a Two-Phase System of an Aqueous Phase and Liquid Perfluorochemical Subjected to Continuous Wave-Assisted Agitation in Disposable Bioreactor

Abstract

Systems of two immiscible liquid phases—aqueous phase (i.e., distilled water (dH2O) or phosphate-buffered saline (PBS)) and liquid perfluorochemical (i.e., perfluorodecalin (PFD))—were subjected to wave-assisted agitation, i.e., oscillatory rocked, in a disposable bag-like container in a ReadyToProcess WAVETM25 bioreactor, to recognize oxygen transfer effects and effectivity of the surface aeration. According to the DoE methodology, values of the volumetric liquid-side mass transfer (kLa) coefficient for dH2O, PBS, dH2O-PFD, and PBS-PFD systems were determined for the whole range of operating parameters of the WAVE 25 bioreactor. A significantly higher maximal value of kLa was found for waving dH2O than for dH2O-PFD (i.e., 0.00460 s−1 vs. 0.00331 s−1, respectively) compared to more equal maximal values of kLa reached for PBS and PBS-PFD (0.00355 s−1 vs. 0.00341 s−1, respectively). The interface development factor (f) depended on the interfacial area a, and the enhancement factor (EPFD), depending on kLa, was introduced to quantitatively identify the mass transfer effects in the systems of waving two immiscible liquids. The phase of PFD was identified as the reservoir of oxygen. Dimensional correlations were proposed for the prediction of the kLa coefficient, in addition to the f and EPFD factors. The presented correlations, and the set of kLa values, can be directly applied to predict oxygen transfer effects reached under continuous oscillatory rocked systems containing aqueous phase and liquid perfluorochemical.