Perspectives of computational fluid dynamics methods in the study of membrane processes

Abstract

In mathematical modeling of membrane processes, the study of structural features of used membranes and the significant limitation of information in the formal description of their separation properties led to the development of physical models that take into account not only the features of structures of real membranes, but also their peculiarities of functioning. When compiling physical models of membrane processes, it is impossible to objectively quantify most of the factors due to their great diversity and variability, which distances the mathematical model from the real process. That is why methods of computational fluid dynamics reliably and efficiently perform calculations for all physical models and types, including stationary or transient flow, incompressible or compressible flow (from small subsonic to hypersonic), simulation of laminar or turbulent flows, Newtonian or non-Newtonian fluids, ideal or real gas. An electronic geometric model of the plant was built, a choice of mesh geometry with different densities was made to optimize the calculation time and solution accuracy for a particular case, the kinetic dependence of cell growth was calculated, the flow rates of feeding medium into the intra- and inter-fiber spaces of the bioreactor were determined, and the hydrodynamic conditions were analyzed.