Designing blood oxygenators.

Extracorporeal blood oxygenators are used to provide cardiopulmonary support during open heart surgery. In the study reported here, mass transfer correlations were determined for commercially available blood oxygenators. Two configurations used commercially, flow outside and across bundles of hollow fibers and flow in thin channels between parallel flat sheet membranes, were investigated. Water and glycerol/water mixtures were used as a substitute for blood. Diffusion of oxygen into and out of these solutions was studied. For flow across bundles of hollow fibers, the mass transfer correlations derived here are in agreement with analogous correlations for crossflow heat exchangers. However, for flow in thin channels, the rate of mass transfer is often less than predicted from theory. This compromised mass transfer can be explained by considering slight variations in the thickness of the blood flow channels. The mass transfer correlations developed here could be used to design better blood oxygenators.