Computational simulation of fluid dynamics in a tubular stirred reactor

The flow and concentration fields in a new style tubular stirred reactor were simulated by simulating the fluids dynamics(CFD),in which FLUENT software was used and the standard k-ε model and multiple reference frame(MRF) were adopted. The various values of initial rotating speed and inlet flow rate were adopted. Simulations were validated with experimental residence time distribution(RTD) determination. It is shown that the fluid flow is very turbulent and the flow pattern approaches to the plug flow. The velocity increases from shaft to the end of impeller,and the gradient is enlarged by increasing the rotating speed. Comparison between RTD curves shows that agitation can improve the performance of reactor. As the flow rate increases,the mean residence time decreases proportionally,and the variance of RTD lessens as well. When rotating speed increases to a certain value,the variance of RTD is enlarged by increasing rotating speed,but the mean residence time has no obvious change.

Simulation and Analysis on the Two-Phase Flow Fields in a Rotating-Stream-Tray Absorber by Using Computational Fluid Dynamics

The flow field of gas and liquid in a φ150mm rotating-stream-tray (RST) scrubber is simulated by using computational fluid dynamic (CFD) method. The sismulation is based on the two-equation RNG κ-ε turbulence model, Eulerian multiphase model, and a real-shape 3D model with a huge number of meshes. The simulation results include detailed information about velocity, pressure, volume fraction and so on. Some features of the flow field are obtained: liquid is atomized in a thin annular zone; a high velocity air zone prevents water drops at the bottom from flying towards the wall; the pressure varies sharply at the end of blades and so on. The results will be helpful for structure optimization and engineering design.

COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS(CFD) SIMULATIONS OF DRAG REDUCTION WITH PERIODIC MICRO-STRUCTURED WALL

Computational fluid dynamics（CFD） simulations are adopted to investigate rectangular microchannel flows with various periodic micro-structured wall by introducing velocity slip boundary condition at low Reynolds number. The purpose of the current study is to numerically find out the effects of periodic micro-structured wall on the flow resistance in rectangular microchannel with the different spacings between microridges ranging from 15 to 60 pm. The simulative results indicate that pressure drop with different spacing between microridges increases linearly with flow velocity and decreases monotonically with slip velocity; Pressure drop reduction also increases with the spacing between microridges at the same condition of slip velocity and flow velocity. The results of numerical simulation are compared with theoretical predictions and experimental results in the literatures. It is found that there is qualitative agreement between them.

Computational fluid dynamics simulations of respiratory airflow in human nasal cavity and its characteristic dimension study

To study the airflow distribution in human nasal cavity during respiration and the characteristic parameters of nasal structure, three-dimensional, anatomically accurate representations of 30 adult nasal cavity models were recons- tructed based on processed tomography images collected from normal people. The airflow fields in nasal cavities were simulated by fluid dynamics with finite element software ANSYS. The results showed that the difference of human nasal cavity structure led to different airflow distribution in the nasal cavities and variation of the main airstream passing through the common nasal meatus. The nasal resistance in the regions of nasal valve and nasal vestibule accounted for more than half of the overall resistance. The characteristic model of nasal cavity was extracted on the basis of characteristic points and dimensions deduced from the original models. It showed that either the geometric structure or the airflow field of the two kinds of models was similar. The characteristic dimensions were the characteristic parameters of nasal cavity that could properly represent the original model in model studies on nasal cavity.

Computational fluid dynamics simulation of gas-liquid two phases flow in 320 m^3 air-blowing mechanical flotation cell using different turbulence models

According to the recently developed single-trough floating machine with the world's largest volume(inflatable mechanical agitation flotation machine with volume of 320 m3) in China, the gas-fluid two-phase flow in flotation cell was simulated using computational fluid dynamics method. It is shown that hexahedral mesh scheme is more suitable for the complex structure of the flotation cell than tetrahedral mesh scheme, and a mesh quality ranging from 0.7 to 1.0 is obtained. Comparative studies of the standard k-ε, k-ω and realizable k-ε turbulence models were carried out. It is indicated that the standard k-ε turbulence model could give a result relatively close to the practice and the liquid phase flow field is well characterized. In addition, two obvious recirculation zones are formed in the mixing zones, and the pressure on the rotor and stator is well characterized. Furthermore, the simulation results using improved standard k-ε turbulence model show that surface tension coefficient of 0.072, drag model of Grace and coefficient of 4, and lift coefficient of 0.001 can be achieved. The research results suggest that gas-fluid two-phase flow in large flotation cell can be well simulated using computational fluid dynamics method.

Computational fluid dynamics simulation of formaldehyde emission characteristics and its experimental validation in environment chamber

We investigated the effect of supply air rate and temperature on formaldehyde emission characteristics in an environment chamber.A three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics(CFD) chamber model for simulating formaldehyde emission in twelve different cases was developed for obtaining formaldehyde concentration by the area-weighted average method.Laboratory experiments were conducted in an environment chamber to validate the simulation results of twelve different cases and the formaldehyde concentration was measured by continuous sampling.The results show that there was good agreement between the model prediction and the experimental values within 4.3 difference for each case.The CFD simulation results varied in the range from 0.21 mg/m3 to 0.94 mg/m3,and the measuring results in the range from 0.17 mg/m3 to 0.87 mg/m3.The variation trend of formaldehyde concentration with supply air rate and temperature variation for CFD simulation and experiment measuring was consistent.With the existence of steady formaldehyde emission sources,formaldehyde concentration generally increased with the increase of temperature,and it decreased with the increase of air supply rate.We also provided some reasonable suggestions to reduce formaldehyde concentration and to improve indoor air quality for newly decorated rooms.

Flow Field and Temperature Field in GaN-MOCVD Reactor Based on Computational Fluid Dynamics Modeling

Metal organic chenlical vapor deposition （AIOCVD） growth systems arc one of the. main types of equipment used for growing single crystal materials, such as GaN. To obtain fihn epitaxial materials with uniform performanee, the flow field and ternperature field in a GaN-MOCVD reactor are investigated by modeling and simulating. To make the simulation results more consistent with the actual situation, the gases in the reactor are considered to be compressible, making it possible to investigate the distributions of gas density and pressure in the reactor. The computational fluid dynamics method is used to stud,v the effects of inlet gas flow velocity, pressure in the reactor, rotational speed of graphite susceptor, and gases used in the growth, which has great guiding~ significance for the growth of GaN fihn materials.

Computational fluid dynamics simulation of gas dispersion in complex facilities using Kit Fox field experiments:Validation and statistical evaluation

Gas release and its dispersion is a major concern in chemical industries.In order to manage and mitigate the risk of gas dispersion and its consequences,it is necessary to predict gas dispersion behavior and its concentration at various locations upon emission.Therefore,models and commercial packages such as Phast and ALOHA have been developed.Computational fluid dynamics(CFD)can be a useful tool to simulate gas dispersion in complex areas and conditions.The validation of the models requires the employment of the experimental data from filed and wind tunnel experiments.It appears that the use of the experimental data to validate the CFD method that only includes certain monitor points and not the entire domain can lead to unreliable results for the intended areas of concern.In this work,some of the trials of the Kit Fox field experiment,which provided a wide-range database for gas dispersion,were simulated by CFD.Various scenarios were considered with different mesh sizes,physical conditions,and types of release.The results of the simulations were surveyed in the whole domain.The data matching each scenario was varied by the influence of the dominant displacement force(wind or diffusivity).Furthermore,the statistical parameters suggested for the heavy gas dispersion showed a dependency on the lower band of gas concentration.Therefore,they should be used with precaution.Finally,the results and computation cost of the simulation could be affected by the chosen scenario,the location of the intended points,and the release type.

Numerical simulation of a direct internal reforming solid oxide fuel cell using computational fluid dynamics method

A detailed mathematical model of a direct internal reforming solid oxide fuel cell(DIR-SOFC) incorporating with simulation of chemical and physical processes in the fuel cell is presented. The model is developed based on the reforming and electrochemical reaction mechanisms,mass and energy conservation,and heat transfer. A computational fluid dynamics(CFD) method is used for solving the complicated multiple partial differential equations(PDEs) to obtain the numerical approximations. The resulting distributions of chemical species concentrations,temperature and current density in a cross-flow DIR-SOFC are given and analyzed in detail. Further,the influence between distributions of chemical species concentrations,temperature and current density during the simulation is illustrated and discussed. The heat and mass transfer,and the kinetics of reforming and electrochemical reactions have significant effects on the parameter distributions within the cell. The results show the particular characteristics of the DIR-SOFC among fuel cells,and can aid in stack design and control.

Computational Fluid Dynamics Approach to the Effect of Mixing and Draft Tube on the Precipitation of Barium Sulfate in a Continuous Stirred Tank

The effect of mixing on the precipitation of barium sulfate in a continuous stirred tank is simulated numerically with different feeding location, feed concentration, impeller speed and residence time through solving the standard momentum and mass transport equations in combination with the moment equations for crystal population balance. The numerical method was validated with the literature data. The simulation results including the distribution of the local supersaturation ratio distribution in the precipitator, mean crystal size and coefficient of variation under different operating conditions compared well with experimental data in the literature. The effect of the presence of a draft tube on precipitation were also investigated, and it is suggested that the installation of a draft tube increased the mean crystal size, in general agreement with experimental work in the literature.

Effect of internal structure of a batch-processing wet-etch reactor on fluid flow and heat transfer

Batch-processing wet-etch reactors are the key equipment widely used in chip fabrication,and their performance is largely affected by the internal structure.This work develops a three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics(CFD)model considering heat generation of wet-etching reactions to investigate the fluid flow and heat transfer in the wet-etch reactor.The backflow is observed below and above the wafer region,as the flow resistance in this region is high.The temperature on the upper part of a wafer is higher due to the accumulation of reaction heat,and the average temperature of the side wafer is highest as its convective heat transfer is weakest.Narrowing the gap between wafer and reactor wall can force the etchant to flow in the wafer region and then facilitate the convective heat transfer,leading to better within-wafer and wafer-to-wafer etch uniformities.An inlet angle of 60°balances fluid by-pass and mechanical energy loss,and it yields the best temperature and etch uniformities.The batch with 25wafers has much wider flow channels and much lower flow resistance compared with that with 50wafers,and thus it shows better temperature and etch uniformities.These results and the CFD model should serve to guide the optimal design of batch-processing wet-etch reactors.

Computational fluid dynamic simulation of gas-liquid flow in rotating packed bed:A review

The rotating packed bed(RPB)has been widely used in gas-liquid flow systems as a process intensification device,exhibiting excellent mass transfer enhancement characteristics.However,the complex internal structure and the high-speed rotation of the rotor in RPB bring significant challenges to study the intensification mechanism by experiment methods.In the past two decades,Computational fluid dynamics(CFD)has been gradually applied to simulate the hydrodynamics and mass transfer characteristics in RPB and instruct the reactor design.This article covers the development of the CFD simulation of gasliquid flow in RPB.Firstly,the improvement of the simulation method in the aspect of mathematical models,geometric models,and solving methods is introduced.Secondly,new progress of CFD simulation about hydrodynamic and mass transfer characteristics in RPB is reviewed,including pressure drop,velocity distribution,flow pattern,and concentration distribution,etc.Some new phenomena such as the end effect area with the maximum turbulent have been revealed by this works.In addition,the exploration of developing new reactor structures by CFD simulation is introduced and it is proved that such new structures are competitive to different applications.The defects of current research and future development directions are also discussed at last.

Desulfurization characteristics of slaked lime and regulation optimization of circulating fluidized bed flue gas desulfurization process--A combined experimental and numerical simulation study

Circulating fluidized bed flue gas desulfurization(CFB-FGD) process has been widely applied in recent years. However, high cost caused by the use of high-quality slaked lime and difficult operation due to the complex flow field are two issues which have received great attention. Accordingly, a laboratory-scale fluidized bed reactor was constructed to investigate the effects of physical properties and external conditions on desulfurization performance of slaked lime, and the conclusions were tried out in an industrial-scale CFB-FGD tower. After that, a numerical model of the tower was established based on computational particle fluid dynamics(CPFD) and two-film theory. After comparison and validation with actual operation data, the effects of operating parameters on gas-solid distribution and desulfurization characteristics were investigated. The results of experiments and industrial trials showed that the use of slaked lime with a calcium hydroxide content of approximately 80% and particle size greater than 40 μm could significantly reduce the cost of desulfurizer. Simulation results showed that the flow field in the desulfurization tower was skewed under the influence of circulating ash. We obtained optimal operating conditions of 7.5 kg·s^(-1)for the atomized water flow, 70 kg·s^(-1)for circulating ash flow, and 0.56 kg·s^(-1)for slaked lime flow, with desulfurization efficiency reaching 98.19% and the exit flue gas meeting the ultraclean emission and safety requirements. All parameters selected in the simulation were based on engineering examples and had certain application reference significance.

Numerical simulations and comparative analysis of two- and three-dimensional circulating fluidized bed reactors for CO2 capture

Carbon dioxide(CO2),the main gas emitted from fossil burning,is the primary contributor to global warming.Circulating fluidized bed reactor(CFBR)is proved as an energy-efficient method for post-combustion CO2 capture.The numerical simulation by computational fluid dynamics(CFD)is believed as a promising tool to study CO2 adsorption process in CFBR.Although three-dimensional(3D)simulations were proved to have better predicting performance with the experimental results,two-dimensional(2D)simulations have been widely reported for qualitative and quantitative studies on gas-solid behavior in CFBR for its higher computational efficiency recently.However,the discrepancies between 2D and 3D simulations have rarely been evaluated by detailed study.Considering that the differences between the 2D and 3D simulations will vary substantially with the changes of independent operating conditions,it is beneficial to lower computational costs to clarify the effects of dimensionality on the numerical CO2 adsorption runs under various operating conditions.In this work,the comparative analysis for CO2 adsorption in 2D and 3D simulations was conducted to enlighten the effects of dimensionality on the hydrodynamics and reaction behaviors,in which the separation rate,species distribution and hydrodynamic characteristics were comparatively studied for both model frames.With both accuracy and computational costs considered,the viable suggestions were provided in selecting appropriate model frame for the studies on optimization of operating conditions,which directly affect the capture and energy efficiencies of cyclic CO2 capture process in CFBR.

Computational Fluid Dynamics Approach to the Effect of Mixing and Draft Tube on the Precipitation of Barium Sulfate in a Continuous Stirred Tank

The effect of mixing on the precipitation of barium sulfate in a continuous stirred tank is simulated nu- merically with different feeding location, feed concentration, impeller speed and residence time through solving the standard momentum and mass transport equations in combination with the moment equations for crystal population balance. The numerical method was validated with the literature data. The simulation results including the distribu- tion of the local supersaturation ratio distribution in the precipitator, mean crystal size and coefficient of variation under different operating conditions compared well with experimental data in the literature. The effect of the pres- ence of a draft tube on precipitation were also investigated, and it is suggested that the installation of a draft tube increased the mean crystal size, in general agreement with experimental work in the literature.

A simplified approach to modelling blasts in computational fluid dynamics (CFD)

This paper presents a time-efficient numerical approach to modelling high explosive(HE)blastwave propagation using Computational Fluid Dynamics(CFD).One of the main issues of using conventional CFD modelling in high explosive simulations is the ability to accurately define the initial blastwave properties that arise from the ignition and consequent explosion.Specialised codes often employ Jones-Wilkins-Lee(JWL)or similar equation of state(EOS)to simulate blasts.However,most available CFD codes are limited in terms of EOS modelling.They are restrictive to the Ideal Gas Law(IGL)for compressible flows,which is generally unsuitable for blast simulations.To this end,this paper presents a numerical approach to simulate blastwave propagation for any generic CFD code using the IGL EOS.A new method known as the Input Cavity Method(ICM)is defined where input conditions of the high explosives are given in the form of pressure,velocity and temperature time-history curves.These time history curves are input at a certain distance from the centre of the charge.It is shown that the ICM numerical method can accurately predict over-pressure and impulse time history at measured locations for the incident,reflective and complex multiple reflection scenarios with high numerical accuracy compared to experimental measurements.The ICM is compared to the Pressure Bubble Method(PBM),a common approach to replicating initial conditions for a high explosive in Finite Volume modelling.It is shown that the ICM outperforms the PBM on multiple fronts,such as peak values and overall overpressure curve shape.Finally,the paper also presents the importance of choosing an appropriate solver between the Pressure Based Solver(PBS)and Density-Based Solver(DBS)and provides the advantages and disadvantages of either choice.In general,it is shown that the PBS can resolve and capture the interactions of blastwaves to a higher degree of resolution than the DBS.This is achieved at a much higher computational cost,showing that the DBS is much preferred for quick turnarounds.

Computational Thermo-Fluid Dynamic Simulation of a Radiant Off-Gases Cooling System for Copper Smelting in a Pierce Smith Converter

In copper sulfide concentrates smelting, the off-gases from the Pierce Smith converter (PSC) furnace must be treated to prevent environmental impacts as they are highly corrosive and toxic. The purpose of this research project is to present a methodology for the simulation of a capture and cooling system of the smelting off-gases from a Pierce Smith copper converter, using computational fluid dynamics. Through this methodology, it is possible to obtain a simulation model of the smelting off-gases behavior with an average error of 9.88%. Basically, it demonstrates that the simulated tendencies of the metallurgical off-gases on the cooling hood and chamber can be reliable to predict the thermo-fluid dynamic behavior of the off-gases inside the studied off-gases handling system.

Modeling bubble column reactor with the volume of fluid approach:Comparison of surface tension models

This work aims at comparing surface tension models in VOF(Volume of Fluid) modeling and investigating the effects of gas distributor and gas velocity. Hydrodynamics of a continuous chain of bubbles inside a bubble column reactor was simulated. The grid independence study was first conducted and a grid size of 1.0 mm was adopted in order to minimize the computing time without compromising the accuracy of the results. The predictions were validated by comparing the experimental studies reported in the literature. It was found that all surface tension models can describe the bubble rise and bubble plume in a column with slight deviations.

CFD Simulation of a Hydrogen/Argon Plasma Jet Reactor for Coal Pyrolysis

A Computational Fluid Dynamics(CFD) model was formulated for DC arc hydrogen/argon plasma jet reactors used in the process of the thermal H_2/Ar plasma pyrolysis of coal to acetylene. In this model, fluid flow, convective heat transfer and conjugate heat conductivity are considered simultaneously. The error caused by estimating the inner-wall temperature of a reactor is avoided. The thermodynamic and transport properties of the hydrogen/argon mixture plasma system, which are usually expressed by a set of discrete data, are fitted into expressions that can be easily implemented in the program. The effects of the turbulence are modeled by two standard k-εequations. The temperature field and velocity field in the plasma jet reactor were calculated by employing SIMPLEST algorithm. The knowledge and insight obtained are useful for the design improvement and scale-up of plasma reactors.

Large eddy simulation of unsteady flow in gas-liquid separator applied in thorium molten salt reactor

Axial gas-liquid separators have been adopted in fission gas removal systems for the development of thorium molten salt reactors. In our previous study, we observed an unsteady flow phenomenon in which the flow pattern is directly dependent on the backpressure in a gas-liquid separator; however, the underlying flow mechanism is still unknown. In order to move a step further in clarifying how the flow pattern evolves with a variation in backpressure, a large eddy simulation(LES) was adopted to study the flow field evolution. In the simulation, an artificial boundary was applied at the separator outlet under the assumption that the backpressure increases linearly. The numerical results indicate that the unsteady flow feature is captured by the LES approach, and the flow transition is mainly due to the axial velocity profile redistribution induced by the backpressure variation. With the increase in backpressure,the axial velocity near the downstream orifice transits from negative to positive. This change in the axial velocity sign forces the unstable spiral vortex to become a stable rectilinear vortex.