Lay Description
Very large bioreactors (huge tanks used to grow cells for medicine) are very expensive to test and improve. Because each bioreactor is different, scientists usually have to run many physical tests to make sure the cells grow in healthy conditions. When the tanks are extremely large, like 20,000 liters, running these tests over and over costs a lot of money, energy, and materials. In this project, instead of testing the real tank, a computer simulation was used. The bioreactor was modeled in a program called COMSOL to see how the liquid moves inside the tank. The simulation measured important things that affect the cells, such as: How quickly the liquid mixes together How much force the liquid pushes on the cells How fast the liquid moves around them Different mixer blade designs (called impellers) were tested in the computer model to see which setup worked best. The results showed that the original design worked well, but some new blade arrangements worked even better. By using computer simulations, the bioreactor can be improved without spending huge amounts of money on physical testing. This means medicines can be produced more efficiently and at lower cost.
Grant Proposal / Research Plan (PDF)
Pictures of Work
Figure 1a. Velocity streamline field to display path of fluid taken.
Figure 1b. Slice plot of the velocity magnitude for the model simulated at 100RPM.