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Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis of airlift bioreactor: effect of draft tube configurations on hydrodynamics, cell suspension, and shear rate

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Abstract

The biomass productivity of microalgae cells mainly depends on the hydrodynamics of airlift bioreactor (ABR). Thus, the hydrodynamics of concentric tube ABR was initially studied using two-phase three-dimensional CFD simulations with the Eulerian–Lagrangian approach. The performance of ABR (17 L) was examined for different configurations of the draft tube using various drag models such as Grace, Ishii–Zuber, and Schiller–Naumann. The gas holdups in the riser and the downcomer were well predicted using E–L approach. This work was further extended to study the dispersion of microalgae cells in the ABR using three-phase CFD simulations. In this model (combined E–E and E–L), the solid phase (microalgae cells) was dispersed into the continuous liquid phase (water), while the gas phase (air bubbles) was modeled as a particle transport fluid. The effect of non-drag forces such as virtual mass and lift forces was also considered. Flow regimes were explained on the basis of the relative gas holdup distribution in the riser and the downcomer. The microalgae cells were found in suspension for the superficial gas velocities of 0.02–0.04 m s−1 experiencing an average shear of 23.52–44.56 s−1 which is far below the critical limit of cell damage.

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Abbreviations

A d :

Cross-sectional area of downcomer (m2)

A r :

Cross-sectional area of the riser (m2)

C cd :

Interphase momentum transfer coefficient for the interphase drag force

C D :

Drag coefficient

C L :

Lift coefficient

C wl :

Wall lubrication coefficient

D :

Diameter of the reactor (m)

d b :

Bubble diameter (m)

Eo :

Eotvos number

F B :

Buoyancy force acting on the particle (N)

F D :

Drag force acting on particle (N)

F P :

Pressure gradient force (N)

F VM :

Virtual (or added) mass force (N)

g :

Gravity vector (m s−2)

k :

Turbulent energy (m2 s−2)

M :

Interfacial momentum transfer term between gas–liquid phases

Mo :

Morton number

m b :

Mass of single bubble (kg)

P :

Pressure (Pa)

P k :

Turbulence production due to viscous forces (kg m−1s−3)

P kb :

Turbulence production due to buoyancy effect (kg m−1s−3)

P εb :

Turbulence dissipation due to buoyancy effect (kg m−1s−3)

Re :

Reynold’s Number

Re ω :

Vorticity Reynolds’s Number

t :

Time (s)

U :

Averaged liquid-phase velocity (m s−1)

U b :

Bubble velocity (m s−1)

U c :

Continuous phase velocity (m s−1)

U p :

Particle velocity (m s−1)

U t :

Bubble terminal velocity (m s−1)

V :

Velocity (m s−1)

V g :

Superficial gas velocity (m s−1)

V ld :

Liquid circulation velocity (m s−1)

b:

Bubble phase

c:

Continuous phase

p:

Particle (solid) phase

eff:

Effective

g:

Gas phase

l:

Liquid phase

lam:

Laminar

t:

Turbulent

OV:

Overall

r, R:

Riser

d, D:

Downcomer

µ :

Viscosity of liquid phase (kg m−1s−1)

ρ :

Density of phase (kg m−3)

ε :

Turbulent energy dissipation (m2 s−3)

σ :

Surface tension (N m−1)

σ ρ :

Turbulent Schmidt number

α:

Gas holdup

Ω :

Rotation vector

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Acknowledgements

The author is very grateful to the Department of Science and Technology, New Delhi for their financial support for this research work under the scheme of DST Inspire Faculty Award (IFA13-ENG63). The author is also very thankful to the Director, CSIR–NEERI Nagpur for providing enough infrastructure facilities to carry out this research.

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  1. Environmental Biotechnology and Genomics Division, DST Inspire Faculty, CSIR-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), Nagpur, 440020, India

    Sanjay B. Pawar

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Correspondence to Sanjay B. Pawar.

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Electronic supplementary material

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Fig. 1 s. Meshing of the geometry (for example: ALC3 and ALC5). (TIFF 1335 kb)

Fig. 2 s. Mesh independency results for ALC3 geometry, A) V g = 0.01 m s−1, B) V g = 0.03 m s−1. (TIFF 587 kb)

449_2017_1841_MOESM3_ESM.tif

Fig. 3 s. Effect of different virtual mass force coefficients on overall gas holdup, riser gas holdup, and liquid velocity in ALC2 geometry at V g = 0.02 and 0.04 m s−1. (TIFF 356 kb)

449_2017_1841_MOESM4_ESM.tif

Fig. 4 s. Effect of consideration of lift force (LF) and wall lubrication (WL) force on overall gas holdup, riser gas holdup and liquid velocity in ALC2 and ALC3 geometries at V g = 0.02 and 0.04 m s−1, respectively. (TIFF 275 kb)

449_2017_1841_MOESM5_ESM.tif

Fig. 5 s. Prediction of hydrodynamics parameters under three-phase simulations of ABR (ALC3 geometry) for superficial gas velocity of 0.04 m s−1 a) microalgae velocity profile; b) volumetric distribution of microalgae cells; c) path followed by algae cells shown by streamlines; d) microalgae shear rate profile; and e) air bubble velocity profile and distribution of air bubbles. (TIFF 4860 kb)

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Pawar, S.B. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis of airlift bioreactor: effect of draft tube configurations on hydrodynamics, cell suspension, and shear rate. Bioprocess Biosyst Eng 41, 31–45 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-017-1841-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-017-1841-8

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