CFD modelling of a rectangular photobioreactor used for decolorization of Acid Orange 7 by GOx/TiO2/PU porous catalyst

Abstract

A rectangular bioreactor with a porous catalyst (GOx/TiO2/PU) was investigated by computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The bioreactor was used for elimination of Acid Orange 7 (AO7) dye as a model aqueous pollutant. CFD simulation was validated experimentally in a flow rate of 30–60 mL/min and initial dye concentration of 5.7–10.75 mg/L. Hydrodynamics equations were successfully integrated to study the effect of porous media on flow behavior and pressure drop. Hydrodynamics and RTD analyses proved that the implementation of polyurethane foam as a porous carrier leads to higher residence time and increases AO7 elimination rate. Comparison of experimental single-pass AO7 elimination results with those of CFD simulations showed an average error of 7.8%, confirming the efficiency of the proposed CFD model.

Keywords

• rectangular bioreactor
• computational fluid dynamic
• decolorization
• porous media
• RTD
• wastewater treatment