Design and simulations of a helical oscillatory baffled reactor for biochemical reactions

A helical oscillatory flow reactor with orifice baffles (HOBR) is proposed for use in slow biochemical and pharmaceutical processes. The new reactor geometry with 10 mm diameter was analyzed using the dynamic 3D CFD model and pulse tracer experiments in a 3D printed prototype, for a range of oscillatory and non-oscillatory flowrates (Reo = 25 - 300 and Ren = 20 - 78). Comparison of the HOBR with the classical OBR design using CFD simulations, under the same flow conditions, showed that the new geometry provides near plug flow conditions and notably improves mixing performance. This is due to more complex flow patterns and the enhanced radial mixing, including pairs of Dean vortices, which is related to the baffled tube helical design. A model reduction based on the tanks-in-series approach was examined. The proposed two-parameter correlation can predict the residence time distribution behavior inside of HOBR over the entire range of flow conditions tested.