The potential of CFD in sustainable microbial fermenter design: a review

Abstract

Due to the regulated nature and purity standards of the bioprocess and biotechnology industries, the sector has seen comparatively less sustainable practices than other chemical industries have. The achievement of sustainability in microbial fermenter design requires that quantitative tools with links between process parameters and end-environmental outcomes are employed. This review begins with environmentally friendly metrics such as process mass intensity, water and energy intensity, and related indicators that act as a template for resource usage and waste generation assessment. The objective of this paper is to highlight the primary focus on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) applied to bioprocesses in aerated stirred bioreactors using Escherichia coli (E. coli). Second, the objective of this paper is to explore state-of-the-art CFD models and methods documented in the existing literature, providing a fundamental foundation for researchers to incorporate CFD modelling into biotechnological process development, while making these concepts accessible to non-specialists and addressing the research gap of linking CFD outputs with sustainability metrics and life cycle assessment techniques. Impeller rotational models such as sliding mesh are an accurate and commonly used method of modelling the rotation of stirring. Multiple different turbulence models are applied for the purpose of stirred bioreactors, with the family of k-ε models being the most used. Multiphase models such as Euler-Euler models in combination with population balance models and gas dispersion models to model bubble size distribution and bubble characteristics are typically used.