Problem:
Question 1: Cell biomass, represented as C? H? N? O?, is grown in a bioreactor. ?, ?, ?, and ? are numbers specifying the molecular formula. The molecular weight of C? H? N? O? is 91.34 g/mol. The volume of the bioreactor is 100 L.
Question 2: There are two inlet streams to bioreactor. The first inlet stream contains glucose and ammonia; the second contains air. There are two outlet streams from the bioreactor. One outlet stream contains C?H?N?O?, excess C6H12O6, and H2O; the other contains the gases O2, N2, and CO2. The outlet gas flow rate is 1.13e5 cm3/min. Assume that the gas streams are dry (i.e., contain no H2O). Assume that the density of air, O2, N2, and CO2 is 0.0012 g/cm3.
The following biochemical reaction takes place in the bioreactor:
C6H12O6 + aO2 + bNH3 (arrow to the right) pC?H?N?O? + qH2O + rCO2
Ammonia is the limiting reactant and is completely consumed in the reaction. The bioreactor is in steady-state operation. The mass and molar flow rates of some of compounds are summarized in the table; others must be calculated or deduced.
Required:
Question: Determine the outlet molar flow rate of biomass (C?H?N?O?).
Show your calculations, but you do not need to write out any explanation.