| Abstract: | The transport of insoluble substrates such as hydrocarbons to microorganisms is often postulated to be dictated by the availability of the hydrocarbon surface area. Many publications, qualitative and quantitative, have appeared to substantiate this hypothesis. Experiments have been performed in our laboratory to assess the absolute values of the interfacial area of hexadecane as the carbon source for the growth of Candida intermedia. A sedimentometer, mounted directly in the fermentor, was used to measure the interfacial hydrocarbon area during active growth of this organism. The specific hydrocarbon interfacial area was found to be directly related to the impeller speed, hydrocarbon concentration and surfactant concentration in a 1-liter working volume, turbine-agitated fermentor. The specific growth rate was in turn found to be directly related to the specific hydrocarbon interfacial area. Lastly, cessation of logarithmic growth and onset of linear growth was found at all instances to be governed by the specific hydrocarbon surface area. |
