Experimental study and simulation of a three-phase flow stirred bioreactor

In order to obtain the reasonable operating conditions and minimize the power consumption in the stirred bioreactor, the hydrodynamic experiments in the stirred bioreactor have been taken to obtain the basic data. Subsequently, an Eulerian model for the gas-liquid-solid three phase flow in the stirred bioreactor has been proposed and the CFD simulation has been conducted. By comparing the results of experiment and simulation, it can be concluded that the simulation results were consistent with the experimental data. The inner relationship between operating variables and indicators could be obtained by comparing the results of just suspension speed, gas holdup, power consumption and operational maps, further the reasonable operating conditions could be also determined under the minimum power consumption. The operational maps could provide the theoretical foundation for industrial application of the gas-liquid-solid stirred bioreactors under the low solid concentration (no more than 20 wt%). (C) 2018 The Chemical Industry and Engineering Society of China, and Chemical Industry Press. Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.