Computational Modeling of Textured Enzyme Immobilizing Scaffolds in a Packed Bed Reactor

Abstract

Understanding and analyzing heterogeneous reactions in packed bed reactors is important in many applications. Here we present a computational model to investigate the impact of surface texturing on enzyme immobilizing scaffolds in a packed bed environment. It was hypothesized that the implementation of surface texturing would increase the overall reactive surface area of the bed and thus improve reactor efficiency. The model utilizes computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to solve the transport, multi-component flow, and reaction kinetic equations. A stochastic algorithm for random packing of sphere-like particles was also implemented to mimic the random packing that exists in a typical packed bed. This model analyzes the many coupled forms of transport and reaction kinetics that exist in a packed bed reactor with the goal of improved resolution and understanding of the system. The impact of form drag as it relates to scaffold geometry on outlet product concentration is included.