Mass transport enhancement in annular-shaped lid-driven bioreactor

Abstract

The current study investigated numerically the two-dimensional (2D) incompressible flow and mass transfer in a lid-driven cavity of annular geometry accompanied by enzymatic surface-reactions. The lid-driven bioreactor had a square cross-section of (H × H) and a radius of curvature of r (c). This flow configuration gives the opportunity to evaluate effects of curvature as well as operational parameters on the bioreactor performance. For forced-convection, conservation equations were solved numerically, using fourth-order finite volume schemes, to identify the 2D flow structure and concentration distribution of substrate within the bioreactor. For pure diffusion, analytical solution was obtained. Substrate transfer rates were presented in terms of Sherwood number. While, effectiveness factor was computed to evaluate the force-convection contribution over pure molecular diffusion. Mass-transfer against surface-reaction resistance was estimated via Damkohler number. Results indicate the positive role of increasing Peclet number, Reynolds number, and radius of curvature in enhancing the substrate transport process.