Zoe Schofield
PhD Research Engineer
Sponsor: EPSRC
School of Chemical Engineering, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT, United Kingdom
PhD Project Background
Mechanically agitated vessels and homogenisers currently dominate today’s emulsification processes. These equipment are very energy intensive and so are expensive to operate and hence not very environmentally friendly. Thus, more energetically favourable processes are sought for which may involve changing existing process conditions, formulations, procedures and technology. Usually, a combination of these is necessary to achieve an optimal process in terms of process efficiency i.e. a sustainable and cost and energy saving process.
A fundamental understanding of how the product and mixing equipment interact in laboratory scale is essential in successfully scaling up emulsification processes. Knowledge of product formulation i.e. fluid properties is also critical as it determines how well a process can be scaled up to plant scale. For instance, if changing process conditions or sequential order of formulation procedures does not work, a completely new formulation or new technology may be required to make new and useful product alternatives.
Current Project Aims
We aim to define the critical physical factors (patterns of flow, vessel geometry and blood rheology) that determine the risk of thrombus formation in deep veins, and thus to develop prognostic biomarkers and new targets for therapy for this common but poorly understood disorder. The project will apply physical and computational approaches to an important cardiovascular pathology that has lacked systematic analysis to date. It will also provide a template for how these approaches can be developed and optimised for the study of cardiovascular disorders, which are the most common cause of death worldwide.
The experimental and theoretical aims of the project are:
1. To predict parameters critical for formation of thrombus in occluded veins and test whether their systematic variation influences development of DVT in a mouse model.
2. To develop a novel computational approach called the Discrete Multi-hybrid System (DMHS) to model the blood flow and formation of cellular aggregates near flexible geometries such as the leaflets of the venous valve, and thus define the link between fluid dynamics and the probability of clot formation.
3. To develop novel microfluidic approaches for microscopic observation of flow in channels with realistic variable geometry. To perfuse them with simple fluids, particulate suspensions and ultimately blood, and characterise flow patterns and the behaviour of flowing cells, including deposition and aggregation.
4. To experimentally test the influence of identified, critical parameters in more geometries based on human veins, created using 3D printing technology.