RESEARCH ARTICLE

CFD simulation of the hydrodynamics in an internal air-lift reactor with two different configurations

  • Mona EBRAHIMIFAKHAR 1 ,
  • Elmira MOHSENZADEH 1 ,
  • Sadegh MORADI , 1 ,
  • Mostafa MORAVEJI 1 ,
  • Mahmoud SALIMI 2
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  • 1. Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Arak University, Arak 38156-8-8849, Iran
  • 2. Department of Chemical Engineering, Islamic Azad University, Arak Branch, Arak, Iran

Received date: 26 Apr 2011

Accepted date: 18 Aug 2011

Published date: 05 Dec 2011

Copyright

2014 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

Abstract

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) was used to investigate the hydrodynamic parameters of two internal airlift bioreactors with different configurations. Both had a riser diameter of 0.1 m. The model was used to predict the effect of the reactor geometry on the reactor hydrodynamics. Water was utilized as the continuous phase and air in the form of bubbles was applied as the dispersed phase. A two-phase flow model provided by the bubbly flow application mode was employed in this project. In the liquid phase, the turbulence can be described using the k-ϵ model. Simulated gas holdup and liquid circulation velocity results were compared with experimental data. The predictions of the simulation are in good agreement with the experimental data.

Cite this article

Mona EBRAHIMIFAKHAR , Elmira MOHSENZADEH , Sadegh MORADI , Mostafa MORAVEJI , Mahmoud SALIMI . CFD simulation of the hydrodynamics in an internal air-lift reactor with two different configurations[J]. Frontiers of Chemical Science and Engineering, 2011 , 5(4) : 455 -462 . DOI: 10.1007/s11705-011-1116-x

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