Premium
Characterization of the localized hydrodynamic shear forces and dissolved oxygen distribution in sparged bioreactors
Author(s) -
Koynov Athanas,
Tryggvason Grétar,
Khinast Johannes G.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
biotechnology and bioengineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.136
H-Index - 189
eISSN - 1097-0290
pISSN - 0006-3592
DOI - 10.1002/bit.21281
Subject(s) - bubble , mass transfer , bioreactor , mixing (physics) , oxygen , shear (geology) , mechanics , chemistry , shear force , chromatography , materials science , physics , composite material , organic chemistry , quantum mechanics
Detailed, high‐resolution numerical simulations of the bubbly flows, used for oxygen delivery and mixing in mammalian cell suspensions, have been performed. The hydrodynamics, shear and normal forces, mass transfer and mass transport from and around individual bubbles and bubble clusters were resolved for different operating conditions, that is, Weber, Morton, and Schmidt numbers. Suspended animal (e.g., mammalian, insect) cells are known to be susceptible to damage potentially leading to cell death, caused by hydrodynamic stresses and oxygen deprivation. Better knowledge of the magnitude of the shear forces and the extent of mixing of the dissolved oxygen in sparged bioreactors can have a significant impact on their future design and optimization. Therefore, the computed liquid‐phase velocity fields were used to calculate and compare the local shear in different types of single bubble wakes and in bubble clusters. Oxygen mass transfer and dissolved oxygen transport were resolved to examine oxygen supply to the cells in the different types of flows. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2007;97: 317–331. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.