Stem Cells Culture Bioreactor Fluid Flow, Shear Stress and Microcarriers Dispersion Analysis Using Computational Fluid Dynamics

Abstract

The growth rate of stem cells in Mobius CellReady 3L bioreactor has been studied using COMSOL Multi-physics simulation software in order to find out the best operational parameters for secure cell growth. The bioreactor geometry was defined according to the EMD Millipore issued informationwhile turbulent and unsteady state solid-liquid 2-phase fluid flow equations were used for modeling the bioreactor. For mathematical solution, zero velocity for the primary and wall boundary conditions and maximum volume fraction of 0.63 for 0.0155 litters (about 10 g) of micro carriers was selected. Results from solving the fluid flow equations with mesh sized geometry of the bioreactors indicated that when the speed of the impeller is raised from 30 to 150, the eddies will encounter an increase from 0 to 74.5 in volume fraction base which can be harmful to the micro carriers.30 rpm velocity of the impeller was observed to be the minimum velocity required for the micro carriers to move through the fluid while 60 rpm was chosen as the optimum impeller speed due to well dispersion of the solid phase and minimum volume fraction of the harmful eddies.