The application of poly-dispersed flow on rectangular airlift photobioreactor mixing performance

The use of the photobioreactor is intended to monitor certain parameters affecting the growth of microalgae and to reduce the potential for contamination. The best microalgae growth is expected to be achieved through the optimal photobioreactor design. This research is proposed by implementing a poly-dispersed bubble flow for two different rectangular airlift photobioreactor in order to gain insights into the optimum configuration such that mixing and good microalgae growth can be achieved. ANSYS Fluent is used to solve the model of CFD. The simulations were carried out for two operating conditions, 1 and 2.5 LPM (liter per minute) gas flow rates. The utilization of poly-dispersed bubbly flow can reduce the discrepancy with regard to the experimental data. Better simulation results in terms of microalgae growth were shown by photobioreactor with horizontal baffles than photobioreactor without baffles in higher gas flow rates in the form of mixing performance.