Hydrodynamics and mass transfer of CO2 in water in a tubular photobioreactor

Abstract

Microalgae cultivation has received growing importance because of its potential applications in CO2 bio‐fixation, wastewater treatment and biofuel production. In this regard, proper design of photobioreactors is crucial for large‐scale commercial applications. The hydrodynamics of a photobioreactor has great influence on the transfer of CO2 from gas phase to liquid phase. Considering the facts, the present research focused on studying the gas holdups and mass transfer from the gas to liquid phase in a tubular photobioreactor at various superficial liquid velocities ranging from 8.4 to 22.4 cm/s and superficial gas velocities ranging from 3.66 to 8.1 cm/s. It was found that the gas holdups were radially distributed. The highest gas holdups were observed at the center zone while the lowest holdups are found near the reactor wall. CO2 mass transfer coefficient in the photobioreactor was also estimated under different superficial liquid velocities (0.206, 0.355 and 0.485 cm/s) and gas velocities (0.67, 1.16 and 1.37 cm/s). The overall mass transfer coefficient was estimated by fitting the experimental data and comparing results with an unsteady state differential mole balance equation solved by Runge‐Kutta‐Gill method. Model predictions were comparable to experimental results.

Keywords

• Holdups
• Hydrodynamics
• Mass transfer coefficient
• Photobioreactor
• Superficial gas velocity