Journal of Bioprocessing & Biotechniques

Effect of Different Impellers and Baffles on Aerobic Stirred Tank Fermenter using Computational Fluid Dynamics

Abstract

Sharma Alok and Genitha Immanuel

The present research was carried out with objective to study the effect of different types of Impellers and Baffles on mixing and to examine the correlation between mixing time and mass transfer of Aerobic Stirred Tank Fermenter. An Aerobic Stirred Tank fermenter was assembled with different Impellers and Baffles alternately. The four different Impellers used were Rushton Impeller, Marine Impeller, A320 Impeller and HE3 Impeller while walled and un walled baffles were used in combination with these Impellers. The Fermenter was assembled with Resistance Temperature Detector, pH Probe and Pressure Gauge. Tachometer was used to calculate the Mixing Time of Fermenter. Volumetric Mass Transfer Coefficient was experimentally determined and calculated by the respective formulae. MATLAB was used for Mathematical Modelling of CFD, while Autodesk Simulation CFD and ANSYS FLUENT were used to generate the simulations. Turbulence lengths and Trailing Vortices were used to understand flow patterns inside the fermenter created by Impellers and Baffles. The kLa values suggested that Rushton Impeller was the most efficient among all. Turbulent Kinetic Energy and Turbulent Dissipation Rate were to understand the mixing efficiency of every Impeller.