Three-Dimensional Numerical Simulations and Antifouling Mechanism of Microorganisms on Microstructured Surfaces
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Mathematical Physical Model
2.1. Model Parameters and Boundary Conditions
2.2. Governing Equation and Calculation Method
2.3. Mesh Generation and Independence Test
3. Experiment and Model Validation
4. Simulation Results and Discussion
4.1. Characteristics of Fluid Kinematics in Microbial Motion
4.2. Shear Stress Distribution of Microbial Movement
5. Conclusions
- When microorganisms moved at different heights on the microstructured surface, the influences of their movements on the flow velocity were related to the heights at which they were located. When d > r, the velocity below the microorganisms was greater than that above the surrounding microstructure, and when d < r, the flow velocity below the microorganisms was significantly lower than that above the surrounding microstructure. Therefore, a low-velocity region was formed around the microorganisms in the process of approaching the microstructured surface.
- The increase of the initial velocity in the simulation channel significantly increased the vortex motion in the micropits. As the formation of biofouling conditioning layers occurred in the nanoscale, they easily entered the micropits and appeared everywhere on the microstructured surface. However, the existence of the micro-vortex flow caused particles to rotate and even spin out of the micropits; thereby, reducing the formation of conditioning layers in the microstructure.
- The movement of microorganisms near the wall caused a low shear stress distribution on adjacent microridges. In previous studies, the consideration of relatively high shear stress on microstructured surfaces caused difficulty in microbial attachments. However, in the current simulation, the addition of moving microorganisms significantly weakened the shear stress when the microbes approached the wall, indicating that its impact has been overestimated in previous studies. There is no conclusive evidence that high shear stress is the main antifouling factor for microstructured surfaces. The shear stress gradient of the microstructured surface fluctuated sharply at ridge steps, signifying that microridge edges have a better effect in reducing biological attachment. The sudden change of the shear stress (large ) was found to be an important parameter to reduce microbial attachment.
- The average shear stresses of the wall Sin and Sout in the downstream and counterflow directions decreased with the increase in micropit depth and width. The Mp5 microridge had a larger shear stress gradient, suggesting its superior antifouling performance to other surfaces; however, this inference was only applicable when r > s/2, that is, when the main fouling organisms cannot enter the micropit. Further investigation of the shear stress in the micro pits shows that when r < s/2, the Mp1 micropit was the most difficult to adhere to. Spherical microorganisms were only considered in the current simulation; however, in actual situations, the shape and characteristic size of microorganisms are quite different. Therefore, in future simulations, microorganisms with different shapes and sizes will be considered to optimize antifouling models of microstructured surfaces.
Author Contributions
Funding
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Micropit Parameters | Mp1 | Mp2 | Mp3 | Mp4 | Mp5 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
h (μm) | 2 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
s (μm) | 2 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 10 |
Shear Stress | Mr0 | Mr1 | Mr2 | Mr3 | Mr4 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
(d = 0.5 μm) | 1.467 | 0.651 | 0.678 | 1.884 | 1.468 |
(d = 0.5 μm) | 2.005 | 1.059 | 0.951 | 2.768 | 2.005 |
(d = 5 μm) | 0.061 | 0.110 | 0.308 | 0.277 | 0.105 |
(d = 5 μm) | 0.075 | 0.187 | 0.446 | 0.274 | 0.153 |
Shear Stress Gradients | Mr0 | Mr1 | Mr2 | Mr3 | Mr4 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
(d = 0.5 μm) | 80.240 | 58.898 | 62.846 | 96.839 | 98.532 |
(d = 5 μm) | 6.662 | 19.532 | 21.658 | 10.756 | 5.710 |
Each Point at the Ridge | A0 | B0 | A1 | C0 | D0 | C1 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
60.461 | −65.822 | 15.795 | 17.186 | −19.479 | 15.086 |
Average Shear Stress | Mp1 | Mp2 | Mp3 | Mp4 | Mp5 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
0.178 | 0.125 | 0.094 | 0.084 | 0.069 | |
0.156 | 0.062 | 0.058 | 0.040 | 0.035 | |
0.117 | 0.112 | 0.089 | 0.080 | 0.069 | |
0.096 | 0.033 | 0.053 | 0.042 | 0.037 |
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Yang, H.; Wang, S.; Li, C.; Li, H. Three-Dimensional Numerical Simulations and Antifouling Mechanism of Microorganisms on Microstructured Surfaces. Processes 2021, 9, 319. https://doi.org/10.3390/pr9020319
Yang H, Wang S, Li C, Li H. Three-Dimensional Numerical Simulations and Antifouling Mechanism of Microorganisms on Microstructured Surfaces. Processes. 2021; 9(2):319. https://doi.org/10.3390/pr9020319
Chicago/Turabian StyleYang, Hongyue, Songling Wang, Chunxi Li, and Hengfan Li. 2021. "Three-Dimensional Numerical Simulations and Antifouling Mechanism of Microorganisms on Microstructured Surfaces" Processes 9, no. 2: 319. https://doi.org/10.3390/pr9020319