Investigation of the 3D Flow in Hemodialysis Venous Air Traps

Hemodialysis is an extracorporeal system which removes the waste product from kidneys for patients with kidney failure. Air bubbles within the system can cause several deficiencies to the system, and more importantly serious health issues to the patients. Therefore, different types of air traps (artery and venous side) are situated in the setup to prevent air bubbles passing through the system and being sent to the body. There have been evidence of the air trap deficiency. In order to understand these deficiencies the flow inside these air traps need to be understood. The investigation of the flow structures in air traps allow us to predict the efficiency of the air traps in capturing the air bubbles and preventing them from passing through. Computational fluid dynamic (CFD) has been used to compare the flow inside both these air traps. The results show interesting flow phenomena leading to explanations of the air bubble capturing effect.