Simulations of Photobioreactors from Hydrodynamics and Mass Transfer Point of View

Abstract

Simulations of photobioreactors with microalgae-specific cultures is a field that connects microbiology with the multiphase fluid dynamics. With microalgae cultivation, it is necessary to account various phenomena, e.g., multiphase hydrodynamics with water, CO2 bubbles and microalgae, multiphase species mass transfer, radiation transport, light attenuation, growth and culmination of microalgae and their effect on fluid properties. Computational model presented in this doctoral dissertation thesis links multiphase hydrodynamic model and the species mass transfer model. In the thesis, there is an overview of applicable computational models for the given types of photobioreactors. The multiphase hydrodynamic model and the species mass transfer model then draw from this overview. Next, the accuracy of these sub-models was compared with laboratory experiments. As a result, the developed computational model of the photobioreactor can be further extended with other sub-models, i.e., the irradiation model and the biomass growth model.

Simulations of photobioreactors with microalgae-specific cultures is a field that connects microbiology with the multiphase fluid dynamics. With microalgae cultivation, it is necessary to account various phenomena, e.g., multiphase hydrodynamics with water, CO2 bubbles and microalgae, multiphase species mass transfer, radiation transport, light attenuation, growth and culmination of microalgae and their effect on fluid properties. Computational model presented in this doctoral dissertation thesis links multiphase hydrodynamic model and the species mass transfer model. In the thesis, there is an overview of applicable computational models for the given types of photobioreactors. The multiphase hydrodynamic model and the species mass transfer model then draw from this overview. Next, the accuracy of these sub-models was compared with laboratory experiments. As a result, the developed computational model of the photobioreactor can be further extended with other sub-models, i.e., the irradiation model and the biomass growth model.