Question

Performance of sterilizer is directly proportional to the Peclet number.

(a) True

(b) False

I got this question in an interview for job.

The doubt is from Sterilisation topic in chapter Reactor Engineering of Bioprocess Engineering

Answer 1

The correct answer is:

(a) True

The Péclet number (Pe) is a dimensionless number that characterizes the relative importance of advection (or convection) to diffusion in a flow system. In the context of a sterilizer, the Péclet number plays an important role in determining the flow dynamics of the medium being sterilized.

• A high Péclet number indicates that advection dominates over diffusion, meaning that the medium flows through the sterilizer in a more plug-flow manner, with less mixing. This can improve the efficiency of sterilization by ensuring that the entire flow receives a similar amount of treatment (e.g., heat or chemicals for sterilization).

• A low Péclet number suggests that diffusion is significant, leading to more mixing of the medium, which can result in incomplete or uneven sterilization.

Thus, the performance of the sterilizer is indeed directly proportional to the Péclet number, as better performance typically corresponds to more efficient and uniform treatment of the medium, which is achieved with higher Pe values.