Dispersion of microswimmers in a vertical pipe flow with diffuse-reflection boundary condition

Because of the high dimensionality and geometric complexity of the circular-pipe problem, formulating and implementing boundary conditions are challenging, and most existing theoretical studies either neglect boundary effects or impose purely specular-reflection boundary conditions. To address this gap, we devise and explore an analytical model for microswimmer dispersion in a cylindrical pipe flow under a diffuse-reflection boundary condition, extending our earlier studies (Jiang & Chen, J. Fluid Mech. , vol. 899, 2020, A18; Zeng et al. , J. Fluid Mech. , 1018, 2025, A27). We derive a well-posed Laplacian eigenvalue problem under diffuse reflection and obtain a complete basis formed by products of Bessel functions and spherical harmonics. The moment equations are solved by the Galerkin spectral method, and the computation is simplified by decomposing the operator and basis functions, together with an analytical treatment of the orientational integrals. The study follows the entire transport process by examining the local and radial distributions, the drift velocity and the dispersivity, and we assess the effects of key parameters with comparisons to the specular reflection conditions. Our results show that diffuse reflection drives microswimmers away from the wall more efficiently and promotes downstream alignment and cross-stream migration. When swimming is strong, non-gyrotactic microswimmers can develop centre accumulation, whereas gyrotaxis promotes near-wall accumulation that counteracts the effect of diffuse reflection, in contrast to classical behaviour. Distinct mechanisms dominate different stages of the transient evolution, leading to different temporal trends in the radial distribution and dispersivity. Overall, diffuse reflection yields a larger drift velocity and a smaller dispersivity, while both gyrotaxis and elongation increase dispersivity.