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

Computationalfluid 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 hydrody-namics.Water was utilized as the continuous phase and air in the form of bubbles was applied as the dispersed phase.A two-phaseflow model provided by the bubblyflow application mode was employed in this project.In the liquid phase,the turbulence can be described using the k-εmodel.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.