Chapter 8 - Computational tools in bioprocessing

Abstract

Industrial bioprocessing is used to produce a variety of products, including pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, chemicals, food, and other dairy products using microorganisms, animal cells, plant cells, or enzymes as biocatalyst. These products are developed to enable sustainable growth and future economic development. However, the large-scale production of these products is hindered by the challenges associated with the reactor’s design and scale-up. This is mainly due to the limited understanding of fluid dynamic behaviors and biochemical reactions involved at the reactor scale. In this context, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is used as a powerful tool to predict the transport behaviors and biochemical reactions of the reactors for improving and optimizing the bioprocesses. In literature, CFD models are mainly focused on hydrodynamics and oxygen transfer–related behaviors of the reactor. Only a few studies are attempted to account for the interaction between fluid dynamics and biochemical reactions. This is because of the different time scales involved in transport processes and biochemical reactions and the limited knowledge toward the development of metabolic models. In this chapter, we highlight recent studies of CFD modeling on bioprocessing reported in the literature using software like ANSYS and COMSOL. We focus on bioprocesses under production stages where bioreaction kinetics and hydrodynamics, and oxygen transfer are essential processes. Also, we discuss the challenges associated with developing both CFD and highly predictive metabolic models for bioprocess establishment. Finally, to accelerate the design and scale-up of bioprocess, the development of coupled CFD with biokinetic models is highlighted.