Hydrodynamic model for liquid‐impelled loop reactors

Abstract

A new type of bioreactor, in which two liquid phases are used, is introduced and a model description of its hydrodynamic behavior is given. The model is based on the two-phase drift-flux model of Zuber and Findlay and on a friction coefficient derived from one-phase flow theory. Drop sizes, necessary for model calculations, were estimated from literature correlations and photographically verified. The model predicts the continuous-phase circulation velocity and dispersed-phase hold-up within an accuracy of 5% for a pilot-plant reactor, and within 10% for a lab-scale reactor. Only at very low ranges, especially on lab scale, is this accuracy not attained.