| Issue |
EPJ Web Conf.
Volume 347, 2026
2025 SAIMechE Central Branch Conference on Mechanical Engineering and Related Disciplines (SCMERD 2025)
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Article Number | 01001 | |
| Number of page(s) | 11 | |
| Section | Thermofluids and Heat Transfer | |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/202634701001 | |
| Published online | 14 January 2026 | |
https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/202634701001
CFD modelling of convective falling films for enhanced algae cultivation: Fluid mechanics influence of mass transfer
Clean Energy Research Group, Department of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
* Corresponding author: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Published online: 14 January 2026
Falling film photobioreactors are able to increase the mass transfer rates per volume of liquid through the gas-liquid interface compared to other photobioreactor types. At low Reynolds numbers the flow mass transfer is still diffusion limited. This work aims to resolve and improve the convective mixing within thin falling films numerically to optimize the rates of CO2 absorption into a thin falling water film. Flat plate models are compared and it is found that slower films with a Reynolds number of 28 outperform faster flowing films by up to 2.5 times.
© The Authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2026
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