title: CFD optimization of continuous stirred-tank (CSTR) reactor for biohydrogen production.
abstract: There has been little work on the optimal configuration of biohydrogen production reactors. This paper describes three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations of gas-liquid flow in a laboratory-scale continuous stirred-tank reactor used for biohydrogen production. To evaluate the role of hydrodynamics in reactor design and optimize the reactor configuration, an optimized impeller design has been constructed and validated with CFD simulations of the normal and optimized impeller over a range of speeds and the numerical results were also validated by examination of residence time distribution. By integrating the CFD simulation with an ethanol-type fermentation process experiment, it was shown that impellers with different type and speed generated different flow patterns, and hence offered different efficiencies for biohydrogen production. The hydrodynamic behavior of the optimized impeller at speeds between 50 and 70 rev/min is most suited for economical biohydrogen production.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment (HIT), Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150090, China. dingjie123@hit.edu.cn
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.forename: Xu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Xue-Fei
authors.initials: XF
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Nan-Qi
authors.initials: NQ
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.forename: Wan-Qian
authors.initials: WQ
authors.lastname: Guo
mesh_terms: D018407:Bacterial Physiological Phenomena; D019149:Bioreactors / Q000382:microbiology*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D017076:Computer-Aided Design; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D006859:Hydrogen / Q000378:metabolism*; D008954:Models, Biological; D012212:Rheology / Q000295:instrumentation*
chemical_list: D006859:Hydrogen