Hollow fiber membrane modules
(HFMMs) with small pore size can easily be adapted in sparger
to generate small bubbles, leading to high kLa values, as
demonstrated for carbon monoxide in water [18].
Among different kinds of methanotrophs employed in the
literatures, including Methylosinus trichosporium OB3b and Methylococcus
capsulatus (Bath), methanotrophic methane-to-methanol
conversion on the biotechnological scale has been investigated
primarily using M. trichosporium OB3b [16]. Hence, we employed
M. trichosporium OB3b to investigate the effect of HFMMs on the
efficiency of methane conversion.