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- Title
Modelling of biohydrogen production in stirred fermenters by Computational Fluid Dynamics.
- Authors
Maluta, Francesco; Pagliantia, Alessandro; Montante, Giuseppina
- Abstract
A bioreactor for the production of hydrogen from the dark fermentation of organics is studied by a com prehensive modelling strategy. The bioreactor is a dual impeller vortex ingesting stirred tank working under batch and attached-growth conditions. Two geometrical configurations of the reactor are investigated: one devised to ensure an effective fluid dynamics behaviour and the other proposed to increase the hydrogen productivity. The turbulent gas-liquid fluid dynamics, the production and the recovery of H2 from the liquid phase are predicted by the numerical solution of the two-phase Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes equations and the species mass transport equations, including a simplified kinetic model for the fermentative hydrogen production found in literature and a local interphase mass transfer model for the hydrogen stripping from the aqueous to the gas phase. A simplified model for the description of the interfacial area in the context of the two-fluid model is also proposed. This work suggests a method for the predictive simulations of a complex biological process via numerical modelling based on Computational Fluid Dynamics. The main outcome of the proposed investigation method is a detailed estimation of the different relevant variables and their interaction on a local basis, providing a viable tool for the Optimization and the scale-up of bioreactors.
- Subjects
COMPUTATIONAL fluid dynamics; MASS transfer; FLUID dynamics; NAVIER-Stokes equations; TRANSPORT theory; HYDROGEN production
- Publication
Process Safety & Environmental Protection: Transactions of the Institution of Chemical Engineers Part B, 2019, Vol 125, Issue Part B, p342
- ISSN
0957-5820
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1016/j.psep.2018.09.020