Question

Estimate the value of “rX”,which is the volumetric rate of biomass production.

(a) kg m^-1 s^-1

(b) kg ms^-1

(c) kg m^-3s^-1

(d) kg m^-3s^-3

The question was posed to me by my school teacher while I was bunking the class.

The question is from Cell Growth Kinetics in section Homogenous Reactions of Bioprocess Engineering

Answer 1

Right option is (c) kg m^-3s^-1

Easy explanation: Rate of cell growth is described by the equation:

rX = μx

where rX is the volumetric rate of biomass production with units of, for example, kg m^-3 s^-I, x is viable cell concentration with units of, for example, kg m^-3, and μ is the specific growth rate. Specific growth rate has dimensions T^-1.