| Abstract: | Microorganisms were continuously cultivated in multistage column consisting of ten perforated plate sections to which medium and air were supplied concurrently from the bottom. At steady state the cell concentration in the various stages was gradationally differentiated from the bottom to the top in the direction of medium flow. RNA content per unit cell concentration at each sage was determined. The cells in the lower stages were higher in RNA content than those from the upper stages. Wash out was observed to occur in the column at dilution rates which do not result in wash out in a single stage chemostat system. A study of the flow characteristics revealed that the overall performance of the plate column was equivalent to that of a multistage system, when hole diameter and hole area to column cross sectional area ratio were properly selected. This was true even in highly aerated conditions. These results indicated that the perforated plates in the column hindred intermixing through the plates, and that each stage functioned as an independent stirred vessel. Industrial and research application of this type fermentor was discussed. |
