A hydrodynamics–reaction kinetics coupled model for evaluating bioreactors derived from CFD simulation

Investigating how a bioreactor functions is a necessary precursor for successful reactor design and operation. Traditional methods used to investigate flow-field cannot meet this challenge accurately and economically. Hydrodynamics model can solve this problem, but to understand a bioreactor in sufficient depth, it is often insufficient. In this paper, a coupled hydrodynamics-reaction kinetics model was formulated from computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code to simulate a gas–liquid–solid three-phase biotreatment system for the first time. The hydrodynamics model is used to formulate prediction of the flow field and the reaction kinetics model then portrays the reaction conversion process. The coupled model is verified and used to simulate the behavior of an expanded granular sludge bed (EGSB) reactor for biohydrogen production. The flow patterns were visualized and analyzed. The coupled model also demonstrates a qualitative relationship between hydrodynamics and biohydrogen production. The advantages and limitations of applying this coupled model are discussed.