A hybrid finite volume/finite element method for incompressible generalized Newtonian fluid flows on unstructured triangular meshes

This paper presents a hybrid finite volume/finite element method for the incompressible generalized Newtonian fluid flow （Power-Law model）. The collocated （i.e. non-staggered） arrangement of variables is used on the unstructured triangular grids, and a fractional step projection method is applied for the velocity-pressure coupling. The cell-centered finite volume method is employed to discretize the momentum equation and the vertex-based finite element for the pressure Poisson equation. The momentum interpolation method is used to suppress unphysical pressure wiggles. Numerical experiments demonstrate that the current hybrid scheme has second order accuracy in both space and time. Results on flows in the lid-driven cavity and between parallel walls for Newtonian and Power-Law models are also in good agreement with the published solutions.

3D pore-scale modeling of nanofluids-enhanced oil recovery

The numerical modeling of oil displacement by nanofluid based on three-dimensional micromodel of cores with different permeability was carried out by the volume of fluid(VOF)method with experimentally measured values of interfacial tension,contact angle and viscosity.Water-based suspensions of SiO_(2) nanoparticles with a concentration of 0–1%and different particle sizes were considered to study the effect of concentration and size of nanoparticles,displacement fluid flow rate,oil viscosity and core permeability on the efficiency of oil displacement by nanofluid.The oil recovery factor(ORF)increases with the increase of mass fraction of nanoparticles.An increase in nanoparticles’concentration to 0.5% allows an increase in ORF by about 19% compared to water flooding.The ORF increases with the decrease of nanoparticle size,and declines with the increase of displacing rate.It has been shown that the use of nanosuspensions for enhanced oil recovery is most effective for low-permeable reservoirs with highly viscous oil in injection modes with capillary number close to the immobilization threshold,and the magnitude of oil recovery enhancement decreases with the increase of displacement speed.The higher the oil viscosity,the lower the reservoir rock permeability,the higher the ORF improved by nanofluids will be.

CFD simulation of an industrial hydrocyclone with Eulerian-Eulerian approach: A case study

In the present study, a three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics simulation together with experimental field measurements was applied to optimize the performance of an industrial hydrocyclone at Sarcheshmeh copper complex. In the simulation, the Eulerian–Eulerian approach was used for solid and liquid phases, the latter being water. In this approach, nine continuous phases were considered for the solid particles with different sizes and one continuous phase for water. The continuity and momentum equations with inclusion of buoyancy and drag forces were solved by the finite volume method. The k–e RNG turbulence model was used for modeling of turbulency. There was a good agreement between the simulation results and the experimental data. After validation of the model accuracy, the effect of inlet solid percentage, pulp inlet velocity, rod inserting in the middle of the hydrocyclone and apex diameter on hydrocyclone performance was investigated. The results showed that by decreasing the inlet solid percentage and increasing the pulp inlet velocity, the efficiency of hydrocyclone increased. Decreasing the apex diameter caused an increase in the hydrocyclone efficiency.