Comparison of different software for the computation of multiphase flow in photobioreactors.
Luzi G, McHardy C, Lindenberger C, Rauh C, Delgado A (2019)
Publication Type: Conference contribution, Conference Contribution
Publication year: 2019
Pages Range: 13.1-13.8
Conference Proceedings Title: Proceedings der 27. GALA-Fachtagung "Experimentelle Strömungsmechanik"
Event location: Erlangen
ISBN: 978-3-9816764-6-4
Abstract
Bubble column bio-reactors, numerical simulations, computational Fluid Dynamics Abstract Nowadays a potential choice for a sustainable production of food, feed or fuels is represented by microalgae. The cultivation of these microorganisms often occurs in photobioreactors (PBR) where the maximum allowable culture density is limited to few grams per liters. Enhancing the pneumatic mixing or utilizing different illumination strategies can potentially increase the PBR productivity. In our recent contribution, we compared pneumatic mixing and flashing light illumination with respect to their ability to promote flashing light effects in a 5 cm diameter bubble column PBR. The outcome of our study clearly indicates that at the investigated operating conditions pneumatic mixing alone has no impact at all on the growth rate. In contrast, numerical simulations show that illumination with flashing LED leads to an increase of the growth rate up to a factor of 2.5 at flashing frequencies higher than 50 Hz. Our numerical work has been conducted with two commercial software, i.e. ANSYS CFX ® and Matlab ®. The former one is costly and does not allow much flexibility to modify the source code. In the present contribution, we compare the CFD results for the multiphase flow obtained with ANSYS CFX ® and OpenFOAM ® , which is a non-commercial software and allows the end user to modify the source codes. The results obtained with the two software match well both qualitatively and quantitatively, demonstrating that OpenFOAM ® is very robust and can be used to simulate complex processes which are relevant in industry.
Authors with CRIS profile
Giovanni Luzi
Department Chemie- und Bioingenieurwesen
Christoph Lindenberger
Department Chemie- und Bioingenieurwesen
Antonio Delgado
Lehrstuhl für Strömungsmechanik
Involved external institutions
Germany (DE)How to cite
APA:
Luzi, G., McHardy, C., Lindenberger, C., Rauh, C., & Delgado, A. (2019). Comparison of different software for the computation of multiphase flow in photobioreactors. In A. Delgado, B. Gatternig, M. Münsch, B. Ruck, A. Leder (Eds.), Proceedings der 27. GALA-Fachtagung "Experimentelle Strömungsmechanik" (pp. 13.1-13.8). Erlangen.
MLA:
Luzi, Giovanni, et al. "Comparison of different software for the computation of multiphase flow in photobioreactors." Proceedings of the 27. GALA-Fachtagung "Experimentelle Strömungsmechanik", Erlangen Ed. A. Delgado, B. Gatternig, M. Münsch, B. Ruck, A. Leder, 2019. 13.1-13.8.
BibTeX: Download