EXPERIMENTAL AND NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF THREE-PHASE FLOW IN AN AERATION TANK

Aeration plays an important role in the treatment of activated sludge due tothe interactions among bubbles, sewage and activated sludge in an aeration tank. The aerationperformance is directly concerned with the efficiency of sewage disposal. So the three-dimensionaltwo-fluid model was established with emphasis on the phase interaction terms in this paper. Thismodel, as an extension of the two-phase flow model, involved the motion laws of three-phases, andwas compared with experimental studies. The finite volume method was used in the numericalsimulation of gas-liquid two-phase flow and gas-liquid-solid three-phase flow. In order to discussthe influence of gas-phase, liquid-phase and solid-phase motions in an aeration tank on the sewagedisposal, three kinds of boundary and initial conditions were adopted. The simulated results of theflow structure show qualitatively good agreement with the experimental data. And the theoreticalbasis for designing the best aeration tank was discussed according to the simulated results.

Thermo-Hydrodynamics of Core-Annular Flow of Water, Heavy Oil and Air Using CFX

The transport of heavy and ultra-viscous oil employing the core-flow technique has been increasing recently, because it provides a greater reduction of the pressure drop during the flow. In this context, the effect of temperature and the presence of gas on the thermo-hydrodynamics of a three-phase water-heavy oil-air flow in a horizontal pipe under the influence of gravity and drag forces, using the commercial software ANSYS CFX?, have been evaluated. The standard κ ? ε turbulence model, the mixture model for heavy oil-water system and the particle model for heavy oil-gas and water-gas systems, were adopted. Results of velocity, volume fraction, pressure and temperature fields of the phases present along the pipe are presented and discussed. It has been found that the presence of the air phase and the variation in the temperature affect the behavior of annular flow and pressure drop.

Modeling of an Impinging Oxygen Jet on Molten Bath Surface in 150t EAF

A transient three-dimensional mathematical model has been developed to analyze the three-phase flow in a 150 t EAF （electric arc furnace） using oxygen. VOF （multiphase volume of fluid） method is used to simulate the behaviors of molten steel and slag. Numerical simulation was conducted to clarify the transient phenomena of oxygen impingement on molten bath. When oxygen jet impinges on the surface of molten bath, the slag layer is broken and the penetrated cavity in molten steel is created. Simultaneously, the wave is formed at the surface of uncovered steel on which the slag layer is pushed away by jet. The result of numerical simulations shows that the area and velocity of uncovered steel created by impingement, jet penetration depth change from 0. 10 m2 , 0. 012 5 m/s, 3.58 cm to 0.72 m2 , 0. 1445 m/s, 11.21 cm, when the flow rate of an oxygen lance varies from 500 to 2000 m3/h. The results have been validated against water model experiments. More specially, the relation between the penetration depth and oxygen flow rate predicted by numerical simulation has been found to agree well with that concluded by water model.