The biomass pulse-response method was established and the biomass transmission index was introduced as a quantitative parameter for evaluating the biomass-adsorbent interactions in the expanded bed.With baker’s yeast intact cells and cell debris as the model biomass and anion exchanger Streamline DEAE as the model adsorbent, a series of factors were investigated to optimize the evaluation method.The appropriate operation conditions were chosen as the OD 600 of biomass pulse at the range of 0.5—0.6, and pulse loading at 80% volume of sedimented bed, expansion factor at 2.5.The method was then used to study the influence of ionic strength of fluid phase on the biomass-adsorbent interactions.The consistent results and slight measurement errors demonstrated that the biomass pulse-response method established in the present work is feasible, reliable and effective for quantitative evaluation of biomass-adsorbent interactions in the expanded bed.
A static equilibrium apparatus was built for determining solid solubility in supercritical fluid. Solubilities of polystyrene in supercritical propane were determined by the static equilibrium method at temperature from 383.15 K to 408.15 K and pressure from 10.0 MPa to 35.0 MPa. The effects of temperature and pressure on the solubility of polystyrene were investigated. The results showed that the solubility of polystyrene in supercritical propane increased with the increase of temperature and pressure. It was also shown that retrograde area could not exist within the temperature and pressure range. Furthermore,the solubility data of polystyrene in supercritical propane were correlated with the fairly good accuracy by a solution model presented in literature. The average absolute relative deviation (AARD) was 4.93%.
