Design And Strenth Analysis For A General Fermentation Tank

Fermentation technology became population from the invention of medicines such aspenicillin, and then has been widely used in many industry fields which are chemicalindustry, food, pharmacy, energy et al. Now, fermentation is the most importanttechnology in the biological industry. Fermentation tank is the key equipment in thefermentation process, and studies of the design theory and strength for the fermentationtank in this paper is of a significant sense for biological engineering.According to the standards and other reference, thicknesses of the cylinder and thespherical heads have been calculated for a fermentation tank whose capacity is100m3.Area replacement method has been used for calculating the reinforcement area of the5openings which do not agree with the principles of exemption for reinforcement.Theoretical and experimental formulas have been used to analyze the heat transfer areasfor the fermentation tank, and also to the geometry and power needed of the stirringdevice. Finite element analysis has been conducted to the openings and nozzles forstrength calculation and safety assessment. Modal analysis has also conducted to the shaftwith a turbine-type stirring device with a plate and six normal and plate paddles toexamine the nature frequencies. Another model which takes the stirring device as a circleplate is also used in the modal analysis.By comparing the finite element analysis results to the results obtained from thedesign by standards, a conclusion can be made that all the5openings and nozzles are ofno need for reinforcement and all of them except one on the cylinder are of enough safetymargin. This conclusion is different to the area replacement method in the designcalculation, and it is because that in the area replacement method, the effectivereinforcement area has been insufficiently estimated. In the modal analysis, the twomodels are of a certain degrees of difference on the natural frequency, and the analysisresult introduces that influence of the stirring device should not be ignored and in thedesign of stirring device, finite element analysis should be done to ensure the safety.