Fluid mechanical problems in biotechnology

The rapid development of biotechnology we are witnessing nowadays isstrongly related to the advances in bioprocess engineering. This field of engineering, including both bioreactor engineering and down-stream processing, isan integration of biological, biochemical and engineering principles, leading tothe quantitative description and development of biotechnological processescarried out on an industrial scale. A very important part of bioprocess engineering problems involves the fluid mechanics problems occurring in biotechnological equipment. These are both the problems related to bioreactor design andoperation, and to down-stream processing operations, such as micro- andultrafiltration, centrifugation, precipitation, extraction, sorptions, flocculation,mixing, fluid transportation, etc