Oxygen transfer in fermentation systems—I. Use of gluconic acid fermentation for determination of instantaneous oxygen transfer rates

Oxygen transfer has been studied in the Pseudomonas ovalis fermentation that quantitatively converts glucose into gluconic acid. The rate of oxygen uptake by this system was correlated with aeration rates and agitator speeds over wide ranges of these variables, by the introduction of a liquid expansion term. The technique described provides a biological method for studying oxygen transfer in the P. ovalis system; its general principles can be applied to other fermentations.