Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers (한국농공학회논문집)

The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers (한국농공학회)
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Utilization of CFD Simulation Model for a Bubble Column Photobioreactor

버블 칼럼 광생물반응기의 내부 유동분석을 위한 전산유체역학 시뮬레이션 모델의 이용

  • 유재인 (서울대학교 농업생명과학대학 지역시스템공학과 & 농업생명과학연구원) ;
  • 이인복 (서울대학교 농업생명과학대학 지역시스템공학과 & 농업생명과학연구원) ;
  • 황현섭 (서울대학교 농업생명과학대학 지역시스템공학과 & 농업생명과학연구원) ;
  • 홍세운 (서울대학교 농업생명과학대학 지역시스템공학과 & 농업생명과학연구원) ;
  • 서일환 (서울대학교 농업생명과학대학 지역시스템공학과 & 농업생명과학연구원) ;
  • ;
  • 권경석 (서울대학교 농업생명과학대학 지역시스템공학과 & 농업생명과학연구원) ;
  • 김용희 (서울대학교 농업생명과학대학 지역시스템공학과 & 농업생명과학연구원)
  • Published : 2009.09.30
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Abstract

Photobioreactor (PBR) that houses and cultivates microalgae providing a suitable environment for its growth, such as light, nutrients, CO2, heat, etc. is now getting more popular in the last decade. Among the many types of PBRs, the bubble column type is very attractive because of its simple construction and easy operation. However, despite the availability of these PBRs, only a few of them can be practically used for mass production. Many limitations still holdback their use especially during their scale-up. To enlarge the culture volume and productivity while supplying optimum environmental conditions, various PBR structures and process control are needed to be investigated. In this study, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) was economically used to design a bubble-column type PBR taking the place of field experiments. CFD is a promising technique which can simulate the growth and production of microalgae in the PBR. To study bubble column PBR with CFD, the most important factor is the possibility of realizing bubble. In this study, multi-phase models which are generally used to realize bubbles were compared by theoretical approaches and comparing in a 2D simulation. As a result, the VOF (volume of fluid) model was found to be the most effective model to realize the bubbles shape as well as the flow inside PBR which may be induced by bubble injection. Considering the accuracy and economical efficiency, 0.005 second time step size was chosen for 2.5 mm mesh size. These results will be used as criteria for scale-up in the PBR simulation.

Keywords

References

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