Enhanced uptake of dissolved oxygen and glucose by Escherichia coli in a turbulent flow

Laboratory experiments were conducted to study the effect of turbulence on Escherichia coli cells in an oscillating grid reactor under conditions of no oxygen transfer to the liquid phase. Fluid flow was quantified at a submillimeter resolution using a particle image velocimetry measuring technique. The root-mean-square estimates of the velocity gradient tensor components indicated the dominance of shear rate deformation in the fluid surrounding E. coli. The E. coli growth rate, dissolved oxygen (DO), and glucose uptake rates were facilitated by fluid-flow energy dissipation in the turbulent fluid. The Kolmogorov length scale (η_K) and velocity (u_K) underlined characteristic scales at which enhanced DO and glucose uptake by E. coli were determined in a turbulent flow in comparison to still-water controls. A first-order power-law relation between the mass transport to the cells and the moving fluid is developed. The combined effects of the enhanced rate of strain at η_K scale and uniform velocity at u_K determined the facilitated DO and glucose fluxes to E. coli. The mass transport to the E. coli was modeled by the Sherwood (Sh)-Péclet (Pe) number relationship by Sh = 1 + 1.08 Pe_uK^0.62 where Pe_uK is the Péclet number defined by the u_K velocity scale. The proposed first-order model described experimental data fairly well.