For Peer Review: Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulations For Fluid Flow Behavior in Anaerobic Digesters

Journal of Chemical Technology & Biotechnology
Computational fluid dynamics simulations for fluid flow

behavior in anaerobic digesters
Journal: Journal of Chemical Technology & Biotechnology

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Manuscript ID Draft
Wiley - Manuscript type: Research Article

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Date Submitted by the Author: n/a
Complete List of Authors: Shakaib, Muhammad; NED University, Mechanical

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Najib, Antash; NED University, Mechanical
Key Words: Aerobic Digestion, Energy, Modelling, Simulation

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http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jctb-wiley
Page 1 of 22 Journal of Chemical Technology & Biotechnology
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Computational fluid dynamics simulations for fluid flow behavior in anaerobic digesters
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9 M. Shakaib*, A. Najib
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12 Department of Mechanical Engineering, NED University of Engineering and Technology
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14 Karachi 75270, Pakistan
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16 * Corresponding author, Email: mshakaib@neduet.edu.pk, Tel: 0092-21-99261261
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21 Abstract
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23 Fluid flow behavior is studied in various anaerobic digester geometries using computational fluid
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26 dynamics (CFD) technique. The CFD simulations indicate significant effect of aspect ratio and
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28 locations of inlet / outlet ports on the flow patterns and the stagnant zones in the digester vessel.
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The performance of the different geometries is determined based on volume fraction of dead /
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33 stagnant zones. The digester which has an inlet and two outlets on the curved surface (both on
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35 same side) is found to be most suitable.
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40 Keywords: Anaerobic digestion, CFD, Reynolds number, stagnant zone,

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45 1. Introduction
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47 Fossil fuels like coal, petroleum and natural gas are major source of energy and are
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predominantly used. The advantages are that these fuels produce energy in huge amounts; its
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52 transportation is easy and has been common since the industrial revolution. A limitation, on the
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54 other hand is that fossil fuels are non-renewable; the reserves are expected to deplete within few
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decades. In addition, it is largest source of greenhouse gas emission, and hence one of the major
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Journal of Chemical Technology & Biotechnology Page 2 of 22
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reason for the change of climate. Keeping in view the limitations, stringent policies related to
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6 greenhouse emissions and use of fossil fuels are being made worldwide. Several countries are
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8 now decreasing reliance on fossils fuels and are planning to increase the use of alternative
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technologies to fulfill the energy requirements.
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13 Since biomass matter is abundant and widely available in almost every region of the world,
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15 anaerobic digestion (AD) process may be a potential source to provide renewable power. In this
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18 process, organic material such as manure, sewage, and other waste item is treated through
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20 microorganism activity in an oxygen-deficient system. The output from the process is biogas
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22 which is combustible mainly containing methane and carbon dioxide. The biogas formed can be
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burned directly in a boiler to provide process or space heat, or it can used to fuel a reciprocating
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27 engine to produce electric power. The process results in controlled release of gases which
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reduces the emission of greenhouse gases. Another benefit is that the AD process through
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32 treatment of a wide range of organic waste produces natural fertilizer which is a valuable by
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34 product.
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37 Due to importance of anaerobic digestion process, significant research has been carried out to
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improve the process efficiency in the recent decades. The important factors which affect the
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42 efficiency of AD are the retention time of slurry (substrate) in the digester and the degree of
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44 mixing of the incoming substrate with the bacterial population.
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47 Mixing in the biodigester is desirable as it results in uniform distribution of microorganisms and
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substrate thus preventing stratification. Further, due to mixing the particle size gets reduced
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52 which allows more release of gas from the mixture. Due to these reasons, several researchers
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54 have studied the factors that affect the mixing performance of the anaerobic digesters. Monteith
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and Stephenson [1] tested various digesters and showed that inefficient mixing reduces the
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effective volume of a digester by as much as 70%. Computer simulations by Bello-Mendoza and
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6 Sharratt [2] revealed that incomplete mixing results in lower methane generation and waste
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8 treatment efficiency. Pena et al. [3] studied pilot-scale anaerobic ponds working on domestic
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sewage. The fluid flow and system performance were monitored for various flow rates (1.0, 1.2,
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13 1.5, and 2.0 L/s). The findings indicated that the baffled (both vertical and horizontal) and the
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15 mixing pit configurations have favorable flow patterns and best removal efficiencies. Wu [4]
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18 modeled turbulent flow of non-Newtonian fluids in anaerobic digesters. The research showed
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20 that 15 spacing between two impellers with each one aimed 30 left and 5 down yields the
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22 most efficient mixing. It was further found that that the mixing intensity decreases with an
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increase in TS. Wu in other papers [5,6] showed that there exists an optimal propeller placement
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27 for any specified digester. For an egg-shaped digester having a working volume of 4888 m3, the
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optimum position of the propeller was mentioned to be 0.914 m below the liquid surface. It was
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32 also demonstrated that the methane yield remains almost unchanged while the energy efficiency
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34 decreases with increasing mixing power in a complete mix digester. Numerical simulations were
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performed by Wu and Chen [7] in scale-up and pilot-scale anaerobic digesters with different
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39 water pump power inputs and different total solid concentration (TS). The work found that for a
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41 cylindrical digester with 1 m3 of volume and inlet pipe with r =0.1R (r = radius of pipe, R =
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44 radius of digester), the optimal power input was 0.375 HP. CFD simulations were conducted by
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46 Shen et al. [8] to investigate the effect of stirring parameters for efficient biogas production from
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48 rice straw. The triple impellers with pitched blade at 80 rpm was the best mixing option. The
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51 doctoral thesis of Vesvikar [9] showed that the draft tube diameter and the sparger geometry are
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53 two important parameters affecting the hydrodynamics of gaslift digesters. Latha et al. [10]
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performed multiphase modeling for evaluation of gas mixing in an aerobic digester. In the
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transient case study it was observed that the reactor takes between 6-7 seconds of real time to
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6 reach a steady-state condition.
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9 The review of literature shows that several research studies have been done to model fluid flow
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11 in anaerobic digesters in previous years. However, improvements are still being done by the
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researchers to produce bio-digesters with enhanced hydrodynamic performance. The proposed
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16 research therefore includes CFD analysis for the effect of digester geometry that results in
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18 minimal stagnant zones and better mixing of fluid.
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23 2. Modeling Procedure
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25 For numerical analysis, pre-processing for CFD analysis was done in Gambit. The computational
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28 domain contained a cylindrical vessel with inlet / outlet pipes at the curved or circular top
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30 surfaces of the digester vessel. The volume for all the geometries was kept 500 m3. Only half
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32 portion was constructed and modeled due to the symmetrical shapes considered. The effect of
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35 aspect ratio that is the ratio of height and diameter and locations of inlet and outlet pipe was
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37 examined. Three different aspect ratios were tested 1, 1.25 and 0.75 named as AD1, AD2, and
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AD3 respectively. The digesters with multiple inlet or outlet pipes were named as AD4-AD16.
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42 All the considered cases are shown in Fig. 1. The locations of inlet and outlet were either at the
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44 curved vertical surface at a distance of 5%, 50% or 95% (of total height H) from the bottom or
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at the top circular surface. The diameters of inlet and outlet pipes were equal to 0.4 m. Further
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49 details of the geometries are provided in Table 1. The computational domain was divided into
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51 number of cells as shown in Fig. 2. The grid contained about 140,000 tetrahedral cells which
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54 were found to provide grid-independent results. Fluid flow in the anaerobic digesters is often
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56 non-Newtonian. However if the total suspended solids is less than 2.5%, the flow can be
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assumed Newtonian [5]. Fluid was thus assumed to be of constant viscosity and density. The
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6 governing equations were continuity and momentum equations for three dimensional flow in the
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8 biodigester. Second order upwind scheme was used for discretization of convective terms of the
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momentum equations and SIMPLE algorithm was used for coupling the pressure and velocity
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13 fields. The convergence criteria were 1 10-5 for residuals of continuity and velocity
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15 components. The solution converged in about 1500 iterations as shown in Fig. 3. The digester
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18 geometries were initially compared at fixed Reynolds number based on inlet pipe diameter of
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20 200. Few digesters which had better performance in terms of mixing / flow distribution were
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22 also tested at other Reynolds number.
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27 3. Results and discussion
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The velocity profiles in digesters with different aspect ratios are shown in Fig. 4. The profiles
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32 indicate that velocity is higher in the bottom portion from where the flow enters and near the exit
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34 location in the top region for the three cases. In other regions of the vessel, the velocity
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magnitudes are relatively lower. As fluid flows towards the outlet, a major portion of fluid
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39 reverses which leads to a large recirculation region as clear from the velocity vectors. The flow
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41 recirculation leads to mixing of the incoming fluid with the returning one. The velocity fields in
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44 the three digesters AD1-3 results show the presence of flow dead / stagnant zone of considerable
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46 size. For example, in the top right corner, local velocities are almost zero and recirculation effect
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48 is also weak. The low velocity zone is found to be larger in digester AD2 which has a greater
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51 height. In order to get improved performance in terms of mixing, geometries with multiple inlets
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53 or outlets are considered. Digester AD4 contains a single inlet and two outlets while AD5 has
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two inlets and one outlet on the opposite side. Even though AD4 has two outlets, the velocity
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profile is similar to AD1; a large recirculation vortex is formed as fluid separates near the exit.
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6 In AD5, multiple flow recirculation regions are seen in the bottom region where two inlet
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and lower locations (AD6) or inlet from upper and lower sides and exit from opposite middle
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13 port (AD7) results in two symmetric recirculation regions. The velocity contours in various other
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15 geometries (AD8-AD16) also show that overall flow behavior and location of low velocity
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18 regions in digester depends on the inlet and outlet locations. Better distribution can be observed
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20 in AD10, AD11 which contains inlet and outlet pipes on the same side and AD15 as the local
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The anaerobic digesters are compared quantitatively on the basis of fraction of volume of dead
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27 zone (low velocity region). The volume of dead / stagnant zone is determined based on three
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criteria (i) 0.5, (ii) 1.0 or (iii) 5% of the inlet velocity (vin). For example if vin is 0.0025 m/s, the
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32 region which contains velocities below 1.25 10-5, 2.5 10-5 and 1.25 10-4 m/s are termed
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34 dead zone based on 0.5, 1.0 and 5% criteria. A lower value of this volume fraction is desirable.
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A comparison is given in Table II. At 0.5% criterion, lower volumes of dead zone are found in
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39 geometries AD1 (22.9%), AD10 (23.8%) and AD2 (25.1%). When criterion is 1.0%, AD10,
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41 AD9 and AD1 have better results whereas at 5%, AD9, AD14 AD10 and AD12 yield lower
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44 volumes of stagnant zones. The values of stagnant volume fractions are higher in AD5, AD7 and
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46 AD16 which means less mixing. These types may therefore not be suitable for the anaerobic
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48 digestion process.
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51 The results shown in Figs. 4 and 5 were for a fixed inlet Reynolds number of 200. The effect of
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53 Reynolds number (Re) or inlet velocity is studied for few cases in which better mixing
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performance was found at Re = 200. The fluid behaviors for the four cases are shown in Fig. 6
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with the help of path lines. At both Reynolds number, it is observed in digesters with single inlet
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6 and outlet (AD1 and AD3), the flow emerges from the lower (right) side, splits into two portions;
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with the entering fluid. This flow structure is similar to one which was seen in Fig. 4 for AD1
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18 seen. At higher Reynolds number, it is noticed that better flow mixing is achieved (particularly
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number. The fluid flow in AD15 after entering from left side is distributed; partially flows
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27 towards the top and partially towards the bottom to exit from the opposite lower side thus leading
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to recirculation zones of varying sizes. At higher Reynolds number, the path lines in AD15
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32 appear to be random showing better mixing of the various flow regions.
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34 The volumes of dead zone at different Reynolds number are shown in Fig. 7. The plot in Fig. 7a
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which show the volume of dead region based on 0.5% (of inlet velocity) criterion, indicate that
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39 AD10 results in minimum stagnant zones for most of the Reynolds number. Second suitable
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41 geometry is AD1 which has less dead volume when compared to AD3 and AD15. Similarly at
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44 criteria of 1 and 5%, AD10 has least value of dead volume. It is further noticed that the volume
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46 of dead zone decreases with the increase in Reynolds number particularly when criteria of 0.5
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48 and 1.0% is used. For example, volume of dead zone decreases from 27% to about 15% in AD10
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51 (when 0.5% criterion is used) when Reynolds number increases from 100 to 400.
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53 The results of the present research work are compared with experimental results of Langner [11].
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A cylindrical vessel similar to one used in this study (G1, centre inlet) was created as shown in
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Fig. 8 and simulated as same inlet velocity / Reynolds number. The flow patterns obtained from
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6 the simulation were compared with the PIV (Particle Image Velocimetry) results. The velocity
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8 contour from the present CFD study (not shown here) was found to be similar with the
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experimental results. A line plot velocity profile at two x-positions is also obtained for
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15 position y = 0 (at the symmetric plane) because the fluid jet from the inlet pipe directly passes
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18 through this location with high velocity. Near the wall surface velocity is found to be negative
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The general trend is however found to be same and velocity values in the flow recirculation
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27 regions are found to be relatively closer. Thus the numerical results can be considered
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satisfactory. The results of present study are also evaluated based on the grid-independence test
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32 by increasing the number of cells to 225,000 for digester AD1 and comparing the volume
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34 fraction values based on 0.5%, 1.0 and 5% criteria. The difference in terms of this volume was
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less than 1% which further shows reliability of this work.
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41 4. Conclusions
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44 CFD study in this paper predicts flow mixing behavior in anaerobic digestion vessels. The work
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46 shows presence of high velocity and flow recirculation regions in several regions of the digester.
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48 The fluid mixing is found to depend on the digester dimensions and locations of inlet and outlet
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51 ports. The geometry AD10 which contains two inlet ports on the side curved surface and outlet
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53 on the same side yields better results. The volume of dead region was found to be lowest for this
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geometry. The analyses at different Reynolds numbers showed that velocity distribution
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improves when Reynolds number is increased. Finally fair agreement was found of the present
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6 CFD results with the experimental ones in literature.
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12 Acknowledgment
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The authors acknowledge the support provided by NED University of Engineering and
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17 Technology, Karachi, Pakistan.
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References
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[1] H.D. Monteith, J.P. Stephenson, Mixing efficiencies in full-scale anaerobic digesters by
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28 tracer methods, Water Pollution Control Federation 53 (1981) 7884.
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31 [2] R. Bello-Mendoza, P.N. Sharratt, Modeling the effects of imperfect mixing on the
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33 performance of anaerobic reactors for sewage sludge treatment, Journal of Chemical

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Technology & Biotechnology 71 (1998) 121130.
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38 [3] M.R. Pena, D.D. Mara, J.M. Piguet, Improvement of mixing patterns in pilot-scale anaerobic
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41 pond treating domestic sewage, Water Science and Technology 48 (2003) 234242.
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[4] B. Wu, CFD investigation of turbulence models for mechanical agitation of non-Newtonian
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46 fluids in anaerobic digesters, Water Research 45 (2011) 20822094.
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49 [5] B. Wu, CFD simulation of mixing in egg-shaped anaerobic digesters, Water Research 44
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51 (2010) 15071519.
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54 [6] B. Wu, Integration of mixing, heat transfer, and biochemical reaction kinetics in anaerobic
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56 methane fermentation, Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 109 (2012) 28642874.
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[7] B. Wu, S. Chen, CFD Simulation of non-Newtonian fluid flow in anaerobic digesters,
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6 Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 99 (2008) 700711.
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9 [8] F. Shen, L. Tian, H. Yuan, Y. Pang, S. Chen, D. Zou, B. Zhu, Y. Liu, X. Li, Improving the
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12 mixing performances of rice straw anaerobic digestion for higher biogas production by
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14 computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation, Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology 171
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16 (2013) 626642.
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19 [9] M.S. Vesvikar, Understanding the hydrodynamics and performance of anaerobic digesters,
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Washington University, 2006.
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[10] S. Latha, D.J. Borman, P.A. Sleigh, CFD multiphase modelling for evaluation of gas
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27 mixing in an anaerobic digester, European Biosolids and Organic Resources Conference and
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29 Exhibition, Leeds, UK, 2009.

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32 [11] J.M. Langner, Investigation of non-Newtonian flow in anaerobic digesters, University of
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34 Manitoba, Canada, 2009.
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40 List of Figures
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43 Fig. 1 Simulation domain for various anaerobic digesters
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46 Fig. 2 Computational grid for CFD analysis
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49 Fig. 3 Residuals of continuity and velocity components versus number of iterations
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52 Fig. 4 Velocity contours in digesters with different aspect ratios
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55 Fig. 5 Effect of inlet and outlet positions on flow patterns
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Fig. 6 Path lines in (a, b) AD1 (c, d) AD3 (e. f) AD10 (g, h) AD15 at Reynolds number of 100
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6 and 400 respectively
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9 Fig. 7 Volume fraction of dead zone with criterion (a) v = 0.005vin (b) v = 0.01vin (c) v = 0.05vin
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12 Fig. 8 Domain for comparison with experimental results
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Fig. 9 Velocity line plot at x = 0.0368 and x = -0.0368
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20 List of Tables
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Table I Digester geometries considered in this work
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24 Table II Volume fraction of stagnant region in digesters
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Table I Digester geometries considered in this work
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6 Name / Description of anaerobic digester
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8 Type Location of inlet(s)/distance from bottom Location of outlet(s) / distance from bottom
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10 AD1 0.05H 0.95H, opposite side
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12 AD2 0.05H* 0.95H, opposite side
13 AD3 0.05H** 0.95H, opposite side
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15 Two outlets, at distances of 0.05H and 0.5H
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AD5 Two inlets, at distances of 0.05H and 0.5H 0.95H, opposite side
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AD6 0.5H
on opposite side
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24 AD7 Two inlets, at distances of 0.05H and 0.95H 0.5H, opposite side
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26 Two outlets, at 0.5H on same side, 0.95H on
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30 Two outlets, at 0.05H on same side, 0.95H on
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AD9 0.5H
opposite side
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AD11 Two inlets, at distances of 0.05H and 0.95H 0.5H, same side
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39 AD12 Top surface Two outlets, 0.05H on both sides
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AD13 Two inlets, 0.05H on both sides Top surface
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42 Two outlets, 0.05H on one side, 0.5H on other
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46 Two outlets, top surface and 0.05H on opposite
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AD16 Two inlets, 0.5H and 0.05H on opposite side Top surface
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* Aspect ratio = 1.25
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Table II Volume fraction of stagnant region in various digesters
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7 Volume fraction of stagnant zone
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9 Digester Name v < 0.005vin v < 0.01vin v < 0.05vin
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AD1 22.9 48.9 95.2
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14 AD2 25.1 53.8 95.3
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16 AD3 25.9 51.0 94.9
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AD4 28.0 59.7 96.0
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21 AD5 42.3 65.4 96.1
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26 AD7 36.0 70.0 96.9
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28 AD8 25.7 57.4 96.1
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AD9 29.1 48.6 94.3
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35 AD11 28.9 59.7 96.8
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AD12 42.4 55.5 94.4
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40 AD13 26.6 58.1 96.9

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42 AD14 40.4 53.2 94.3
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45 AD15 30.3 49.5 94.5
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47 AD16 40.5 66.3 95.8
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Simulation domain for various anaerobic digesters
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687x978mm (96 x 96 DPI)
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45 Computational grid for CFD analysis
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31 Residuals of continuity and velocity components versus number of iterations
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20 Velocity contours in digesters with different aspect ratios
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Effect of inlet and outlet positions on flow patterns
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Path lines in (a, b) AD1 (c, d) AD3 (e. f) AD10 (g, h) AD15 at Reynolds number of 100 and 400 respectively
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Volume fraction of dead zone with criterion (a) v = 0.005vin (b) v = 0.01vin (c) v = 0.05vin
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Domain for comparison with experimental results
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30 Velocity line plot at x = 0.0368 and x = -0.0368
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For Peer Review: Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulations For Fluid Flow Behavior in Anaerobic Digesters

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For Peer Review: Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulations For Fluid Flow Behavior in Anaerobic Digesters

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Journal of Chemical Technology & Biotechnology

Computational fluid dynamics simulations for fluid flow

Journal: Journal of Chemical Technology & Biotechnology

Wiley - Manuscript type: Research Article

Complete List of Authors: Shakaib, Muhammad; NED University, Mechanical

Najib, Antash; NED University, Mechanical

Key Words: Aerobic Digestion, Energy, Modelling, Simulation

40 Keywords: Anaerobic digestion, CFD, Reynolds number, stagnant zone,

33 performance of anaerobic reactors for sewage sludge treatment, Journal of Chemical

29 Exhibition, Leeds, UK, 2009.

33 Two outlets, at distances of 0.05H and 0.95H

33 AD10 23.8 44.4 94.4

40 AD13 26.6 58.1 96.9

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