Question

Oxygen consumed by a living organism in aerobic reactions is used in adding mass to the organism and/or the production of chemicals and carbon dioxide. Since we may not know the molecular compositions of all species in such a reaction, it is common to define the ratio of moles of CO2 produced per mole of Oz consumed as the respiratory quotient RQ, where RQ = n02 Since it generally is impossible to predict values of RQ, they must be determined from operating data. Mammalian cells are used in a bioreactor to convert glucose to glutamic acid by the reaction CH,20 + 2NH, + 602 → CH.NO, + 4CO2 + H20 The feed to the bioreactor comprises 100 mol CH, 20s/day, 120 mol NH3/day and 100 mol Oz/day. Stoichiometric coefficient a b Value 1.11 1.01 1.11 0.45 2.67 p 9 r (a) Determine the amount of each compound in the feed and the balanced stoichiometric reaction and the limiting reactant (b) Assuming that the limiting reactant is consumed completely. Calculate the molar flow rates of all species leaving the reactor and the fractional conversion of the non-limiting reactants.