An effectiveness factor you can see - Experimental visualization of the effectiveness factor concept in a biological system

Effectiveness factor values corresponding to carrageenan immobilized yeast beads packed in a continuous tubular fermenter are ob tained from the mathematical modellization of the reactor performing ethanol fermentation. Simultaneously, microscopical direct observa tion of transversal sections corresponding to two different points in the fermenter is in good agreement with the calculated values: An effectiveness factor near to unity gives a uniform cell distribution in beads, as an effectiveness factor near to 0.75 corresponds to a non uniform cell growth in beads. This observation gives a visual evidence of the validity of the approach used to treat diffusional limitations in biocatalytic particles. © 1991 Humana Press Inc.