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Computational Fluid Dynamics Model for Predicting Flow of Viscous Fluids in a Large Fermentor with Hydrofoil Flow Impellers and Internal Cooling Coils

Considerable debate has occurred over the use of hydrofoil impellers in large‐scale fermentors to improve mixing and mass transfer in highly viscous non‐Newtonian systems. Using a computational fluid dynamics software package (Fluent, version 4.30) extensive calculations were performed to study the effect of impeller speed (70–130 rpm), broth rheology (value of power law flow behavior index from 0.2 to 0.6), and distance between the cooling coil bank and the fermentor wall (6–18 in.) on flow near the perimeter of a large (75‐m3) fermentor equipped with A315 impellers. A quadratic model utilizing the data was developed in an attempt to correlate the effect of A315 impeller speed, power law flow behavior index, and distance between the cooling coil bank and the fermentor wall on the average axial velocity in the coil bank−wall region. The results suggest that there is a potential for slow or stagnant flow in the coil bank−wall region which could result in poor oxygen and heat transfer for highly viscous fermentations. The results also indicate that there is the potential for slow or stagnant flow in the region between the top impeller and the gas headspace when flow through the coil bank−wall region is slow. Finally, a simple guideline was developed to allow fermentor design engineers to predict the degree of flow behind a bank of helical cooling coils in a large fermentor with hydrofoil flow impellers.