Intensification of multiphase systems with a jet‐loop reactor: characterization of mass transfer, mixing time, drop oil size, and biomass growth

Abstract BACKGROUND The development of processes for transforming vegetable oils into useful products has received increasing attention in the biotechnological field. The reactor used for this purpose should meet adequate mass transfer, mixing, and oil dispersion conditions. In this work, comprehensive research into the use of a jet‐loop reactor as a potential alternative to airlift and stirred tank reactors was conducted in the presence of avocado oil in a water‐air system. Additionally, the assessment of the jet‐loop for biomass growth in the presence of oil was performed. RESULTS The increase of avocado oil from 1% to 5% v/v resulted in a reduction in the performance of the three reactors. Despite the airlift reactor having the lowest power input, it exhibited the worst performance in terms of mass transfer, mixing, and oil dispersion. The estimation of the energetic oxygen transfer efficiency (Kg O 2 KW −1 h −1 ) allowed the determination that the jet‐loop reactor was superior to the stirred tank. This superiority was attributed to the low values of the mixing time and oil droplet diameter observed in the jet‐loop reactor. Finally, all these parameters had a positive impact on the growth of Wautersia eutropha in the jet‐loop reactor compared with the other two reactors. CONCLUSION The results showed that the jet‐loop reactor presented superior performance in most cases compared to the stirred tank and airlift reactors. Particularly, the jet‐loop exhibits an interesting potential to reduce the size of the avocado oil droplets, which could lead to a significative increase in the growth rate of Wautersia eutropha . © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry (SCI).