Modeling Multiphase Fluid Flow, Mass Transfer, and Chemical Reactions in
Bioreactors using Large-Eddy Simulation
Abstract
In this work, we present a transient LES approach using the
Euler-Lagrange methodology and the Lattice-Boltzmann method, to
successfully model and simulate interlinked bioreactor physics
describing free surface hydrodynamics, multiphase mixing and mass
transport in non-reacting and reacting systems. It is shown that the
presence of reactions can result in a non-uniform spatially varying
species concentration field, the magnitude and extent of which is
directly related to the reaction rates and the underlying variations in
the local volumetric mass transfer coefficient. Furthermore, we present
a Gluconic acid optimization case study, which provides insights into
the growth rates and process optimization over several hours of
production. The computational approach presented in this work runs
orders-of-magnitude faster than the conventional modeling tools and
provides a unified framework for better understanding of free surface
hydrodynamics, mixing, oxygen mass transfer and reaction kinetics to
help with scale-up/scale-down decisions across a range of lengthscales.