Dynamics of a stochastic model for continuous flow bioreactor with Contois growth rate

In the modelling of the continuous flow bioreactor, due to uncertainties in the environment the growth rate parameter is under perturbation of white noise, which results in a mathematical model governed by a set of stochastic differential equations. In this paper, assume the Contois growth rate is used and then we first show that the stochastic model has always a unique positive solution. Then long time behavior of the model is studied. Our study shows that both the washout and non-washout equilibria are stochastically stable. At the end, we carry out some numerical simulation, which supports our theoretical conclusion well. Also, by the quantities introduced in the last section, both residence time and intensity of the noise have significant effect on the performance of the reactor.     

Metrologically based procedures for the temperature, heat and heat flow rate calibration of DSC

Metrologically based measuring procedures and evaluation methods are recommended as guidance for practical temperature, heat and heat flow rate calibration of DSC instruments which are largely independent of instrumental, test and sample parameters. The relevant terms are defined, the measuring procedures and evaluation methods described, calibration materials and their characteristic data stated and guidance for the sample handling provided. Reference is made to three extended papers on calibration. The recommendations were developed by the working group Calibration of Scanning Calorimeters of the German Society of Thermal Analysis (GEFTA).Recommendation of the working group Calibration of scanning calorimeters of the Gesellschaft für Thermische Analyse e.V. (GEFTA)     

Blood flow and oxygen transfer rate of an outside blood flow membrane oxygenator

We evaluated effects of the number of tied hollow fibers of an outside blood flow membrane oxygenator with cross-wound hollow fibers on the blood flow pattern and oxygen transfer rate. The number of tied hollow fibers in a bundle was varied from one to six, and the blood flow pattern was observed by X-ray computed tomography. The oxygen transfer rate and blood pressure drop were measured by in vitro experiments using bovine blood. Uniform blood flow patterns were obtained for each number of tied hollow fibers. A decrease in the number of tied hollow fibers caused more effective contact of blood with the tied hollow fibers and oxygen transfer rate was enhanced, demonstrating that single hollow fiber was the most effective. Empirical equations were obtained based on these results and optimum structure parameters of the membrane oxygenator were determined by simulation analysis. Optimum membrane surface area and axial jacket length of the oxygenator were 3.0 m² and 320 mm, respectively, at a hollow fiber outside diameter of 250 μm.     

Potential of modified reverse flow injection analysis for continuous monitoring and process control

Summary Modified reverse flow injection analysis is introduced as a novel means for monitoring purposes and online process control. The technique is based on the injection of standard solutions into the continuously flowing sample stream. The transient detector response occurring shortly after the injection reflects the deviation between the analyte concentration of the sample stream and the standard injected. Interpolative calibration and the check of nominal values are two interesting execution modes presented. The beneficial features of the novel approach are discussed and exemplarily demonstrated for practical problems. Experimental conditions are given for the photometric determination of chloride in tap water, phosphate in surface water and the potentiometric determination of fluoride. The respective advantages over common monitoring systems are outlined.

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Einsatzmöglichkeiten der modifizierten Umkehrfließinjektions-Analyse zur kontinuierlichen überwachung und Prozeßsteuerung

     

Programming of temperature and flow rate of carrier gas in work with polycapillary columns for gas-liquid chromatography

Methods of programming temperature and flow rate of carrier gas for to reducing the time of analyte separation on polycapillary columns (PCC) are compared. As was shown, the programming of temperature is accompanied by a change of peak shape, associated with the irregular heating of PCC capillaries. The programming of carrier gas flow rate does not distort the shape of chromatography peaks and does not require long time to return the system to the starting conditions.     

Dichlorosilylene: rate constant for reaction with oxygen

Using the recently detected intense UV absorption spectrum of SiCl₂(X̃¹A₁) the absolute rate constant has been measured for its reaction with oxygen. The value of the bimolecular rate constant, k(SiCl₂ + O₂), is equal to (3.4 ± 0.7) × 10⁹ M⁻¹ s⁻¹ at 25° C.     

A modified continuous flow microcalorimeter for measuring heat dissipation by mammalian cells in batch culture

Microcalorimeters to monitor the heat dissipation of bench-scale animal cell cultures on line and in real time require a continuous circuit between the vessel measuring heat flow rate and the bioreactor. The modifications to the transmission lines and calorimetric heat exchanger were to: (i) reverse the usual upward direction of the cell suspension in the flow vessel to downwards; (ii) install an in situ washing/cleaning facility; (iii) use low diffusivity PEEK material; and (iv) maintain thermal equilibration by water-jacketing the transmission tubing. Chemical calibration showed that there was more than a 20% difference between the physical volume and the effective thermal volume. An appropriate thermodynamic system was defined in order to permit enthalpy balance studies.We are indebted to the BBSR.C (UK) for financial support under grant No. 2/3680. Mr. R.L. Taylor (ThermoMetric Ltd, Northwich, Cheshire) has been extremely helpful in discussions about the various designs.     

Microfluidic chip-capillary electrophoresis with dynamic multi-segment standard addition for rapidly identifying nephrolithiasis markers in urine

A microchip-CE device was fabricated for bed-side monitoring of nephrolithiasis biomarkers in urine by incorporating on-chip continuous passive mixing and standard addition to reduce sample matrix interference, increase sample throughput and eliminate accessories for active mixing. Under optimized conditions with buffer containing 20 mM borate and 0.5 mM CTAB at pH 10.3, sample and standards injected electrokinetically at -350 V for 10 s for online mixing in a Y-merging flow microchannel prior to CE separation and UV detection at 210 nm, both inhibitors (citrate, CA) and promoters (oxalate, OA and uric acid, UA) for nephrolithiasis can be separated and determined in human urine in a single run completed within 10 min after a simple 50-fold sample dilution and filtering. Satisfactory working ranges from 0.13-40, 0.25-40 and 0.025-40 mM, LOD 2.6, 6.1 and 0.7 μM, repeatability (%RSD, n=5) for migration time 1.40, 1.43, 0.47 and peak area 4.46, 6.10, 1.98, respectively, for CA, OA and UA are obtained for urine samples. The use of on-chip standard addition is shown to improve repeatability of the migration time, assist the identification of nephrolithiasis markers from difficult samples with noisy baseline and enlarge the working range for nephrolithiasis marker determination. The device developed can be used for both routine and emergency monitoring to deliver results on demand for bedside monitoring and public health protection. It provides an early detection of nephrolithiasis to enable timely treatments, ease anxiety of parents for neonates consuming suspected contaminated food, and quick results for patients in a critical condition.     

Computer-assisted optimization of temperature programming and flow rate in capillary gas chromatography

A computer-assisted method is presented for simultaneous optimization of three-factor of temperature programming (initial temperature, temperature rising rate and carrier gas flow rate) for the separation of eleven compounds in capillary gas chromatography. The optimization of the separation over the experimental region is based on a special polynomial from fifteen preliminary experiments using the resolution as the selection criterion. Computer scanning technique was used for optimum selection on three dimensions. Excellent agreement was found between the predicted data and the experimental results.     

The use of immobilized alcohol oxidase in the continuous flow determination of ethanol with an oxygen electrode

Immobilized alcohol oxidase was used in the determination of blood alcohol. The alcohol oxidase catalyzed the aerobic oxidation of ethanol and the oxygen concentration was monitored with an oxygen membrane electrode in a flow cell. The enzyme was immobilized either by covalent attachment via glutaraldehyde to the inside walls of nylon tubing, or by adsorption onto three separate controlled-pore glass support materials: TiO₂, SiO₂, or AL₂O₃. The supports were packed into 10 cm lengths of 3 mm i.d. glass tubing or 30 cm lengths of 5 mm i.d. nylon tubing. The five methods of immobilization were compared for stability and activity toward ethanol. Immobilization on silanized glass beads results in the highest activity and greatest stability of the reactor.     

Instrumentation of high temperature and pressure reaction system with continuous flow and its hyphenation to a liquid chromatograph.

A continuous flow-type hydrothermal reaction system, in which both temperature and pressure were rapidly and dynamically controlled, was constructed. It is called a real time high temperature and pressure reaction system (RT-HighTP). The RT-HighTP was hyphenated with liquid chromatograph (RT-HighTP-LC) to achieve prompt analysis of the reaction products. The RT-HighTP system produced stable pressure under the supercritical and subcritical phases (%RSD < 3%). The RT-HighTP-LC was able to change the hydrothermal condition rapidly. The hydrothermal products under four conditions were analyzed within 70 min. Further, the hydrothermal products of lignin was easily taken out using the sample collecting loop and analyzed by an external instrument of GC/MS.     

Continuous separation of particles using a microfluidic device equipped with flow rate control valves

We propose herein an improved microfluidic system for continuous and precise particle separation. We have previously proposed a method for particle separation called "pinched flow fractionation." Using the previously reported method, particles can be continuously separated according to differences in their diameters, simply by introducing liquid flows with and without particles into a specific microchannel structure. In this study, we incorporated PDMS membrane microvalves for flow rate control into the microfluidic device to improve the separation accuracy. By adjusting the flow rates distributed to each outlet, target particles could be precisely collected from the desired outlet. We succeeded in separating micron and submicron-size polymer particles. This method can be used widely for continuous and precise separation of various kinds of particles, and can function as an important part of microfluidic systems.     

Fictive temperature, cooling rate, and viscosity of glasses

The physical correlation between the fictive temperature dependence of the cooling rate of the melts and the temperature dependence of the equilibrium viscosity has been found by doing differential scanning calorimetric and viscometric measurements on a silicate melt, and by performing finite element simulations of the fiber drawing from that melt. This correlation is governed by a correlation factor Kc (in Pa K) which is constant and universal for silicate glasses. The factor Kc is obtained in the cooling rate range from 10(-2) to 10(6) K/s and is in good agreement with that theoretically predicted. The physical feature of the correlation is discussed in the paper. When the fictive temperature equals the actual temperature, a linear relation exists between the cooling rate and the Maxwell relaxation rate, the slope of which depends on the fragility of the glass melts. The Avramov equation is extended to describe the cooling rate dependence of the fictive temperature. The cooling rate equation contains only one adjusting parameter, i.e., the fragility parameter alpha.     

Quantifying temperature and flow rate effects on the performance of a fixed-bed chromatographic reactor

Chromatographic reactors are based on coupling chemical reactions with chromatographic separation in fixed-beds. Temperature and flow rate are important parameters for the performance of such reactors. Temperature affects mainly adsorption, chemical equilibria, mass transfer and reaction kinetics, whereas flow rate influences residence time and dispersion. In order to evaluate the mentioned effects, the hydrolysis reactions of methyl formate (MF) and methyl acetate (MA) were chosen as case studies. These reactions were performed experimentally in a lab-scale fixed-bed chromatographic reactor packed with a strong acidic ion exchange resin. The chosen reactions can be considered to represent a relative fast (MF) and a relative slow (MA) reaction. The processes which take place inside the reactor were described and simulated using an isothermal equilibrium dispersive model. The essential model parameters were determined experimentally at different temperatures and flow rates. The performance of the chromatographic reactor was evaluated at several discrete constant temperature levels by quantifying product purity, productivity and yield. The work provides insight regarding the influence of temperature and flow rate on values of the model parameters and the performance criteria.     

Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy for flow rate imaging and monitoring--optimization, limitations and artifacts

We recently demonstrated a new method for mapping fluid velocities in 3 dimensions and with exceptionally high spatial resolution for the characterization of flow in microfluidic devices. In the method, a colloidal suspension containing fluorescent tracer particles, dye doped polymer spheres, is pumped through a microchannel and confocal microscopy combined with fluorescence correlation spectroscopy is used to measure fluid velocities. In this report, we further characterize the technique and report on optimizations that allow a 5-fold increase in speed of single point velocity measurements. This increase in measurement speed will yield a 25 fold reduction in the time needed to collect a complete velocity image. The precision of measured velocities was characterized as a function of tracer particle concentration, measurement time, and fluid velocity. In addition, we confirm the linearity of the measurement method (velocity vs. applied pressure) over a range of velocities spanning four orders of magnitude. Furthermore, we demonstrate that an artifact in velocity measurements using fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) that was interpreted by others as being caused by optical trapping forces is actually an artifact caused by detector saturation and can be avoided by careful choice of experimental conditions.     

An efficient, continuous flow technique for the chemoselective synthesis of thioacetals

By optimizing a reagent’s residence time within a packed-bed reactor, it is possible to overcome selectivity issues frequently encountered in stirred reaction vessels. This important feature is demonstrated for the chemoselective protection of 4-acetylbenzaldehyde whereby 1-[4-1,3-dithian-2-yl-phenyl]ethanone is obtained in excellent yield and purity. In addition, the generality of the technique is highlighted via the protection of numerous aldehydes and ketones affording the respective thioacetal/ketal in excellent yield (>99.1%) and purity (>99.9%), with space-time yields in the range of 0.44-1.10 g h⁻¹.     

Effects of GC temperature and carrier gas flow rate on on‐line oxygen isotope measurement as studied by on‐column CO injection

Although deemed important to δ¹⁸O measurement by on‐line high‐temperature conversion techniques, how the GC conditions affect δ¹⁸O measurement is rarely examined adequately. We therefore directly injected different volumes of CO or CO–N₂ mix onto the GC column by a six‐port valve and examined the CO yield, CO peak shape, CO–N₂ separation, and δ¹⁸O value under different GC temperatures and carrier gas flow rates. The results show the CO peak area decreases when the carrier gas flow rate increases. The GC temperature has no effect on peak area. The peak width increases with the increase of CO injection volume but decreases with the increase of GC temperature and carrier gas flow rate. The peak intensity increases with the increase of GC temperature and CO injection volume but decreases with the increase of carrier gas flow rate. The peak separation time between N₂ and CO decreases with an increase of GC temperature and carrier gas flow rate. δ¹⁸O value decreases with the increase of CO injection volume (when half m/z 28 intensity is <3 V) and GC temperature but is insensitive to carrier gas flow rate. On average, the δ¹⁸O value of the injected CO is about 1‰ higher than that of identical reference CO. The δ¹⁸O distribution pattern of the injected CO is probably a combined result of ion source nonlinearity and preferential loss of C¹⁶O or oxygen isotopic exchange between zeolite and CO. For practical application, a lower carrier gas flow rate is therefore recommended as it has the combined advantages of higher CO yield, better N₂–CO separation, lower He consumption, and insignificant effect on δ¹⁸O value, while a higher‐than‐60 °C GC temperature and a larger‐than‐100 µl CO volume is also recommended. When no N₂ peak is expected, a higher GC temperature is recommended, and vice versa. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.