Simultaneous measurements of oxygen diffusion coefficients and solubilities in fermentation media with polarographic oxygen electrodes.

A membrane-covered oxygen electrode was used to measure oxygen diffusion coefficients and solubilities in aqueous glucose solutions and various fermentation media following a newly developed methodology. The fermentation media studied were tryptic soy broth and those for fermentations of Penicillium chrysogenum, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and Micrococcus glutamicus. The experimental results of oxygen diffusion coefficients and solubilities in glucose solutions were in good accord with the literature data. As for the fermentation media, both oxygen diffusion coefficients and solubilities were found to decrease with an increased fractional composition of these media, and log-additive behaviors of the oxygen diffusion coefficients and solubilities in fermentation media were observed.