On the accuracy of two-fluid model predictions for a particular gas–solid riser flow

Literature presents a huge number of different simulations of gas–solid flows in risers applying two-fluid modeling. In spite of that, the related quantitative accuracy issue remains mostly untouched. This state of affairs seems to be mainly a consequence of modeling shortcomings, notably regarding the lack of realistic closures. In this article predictions from a two-fluid model are compared to other published two-fluid model predictions applying the same closures, and to experimental data. A particular matter of concern is whether the predictions are generated or not inside the statistical steady state regime that characterizes the riser flows. The present simulation was performed inside the statistical steady state regime. Time-averaged results are presented for different time-averaging intervals of 5, 10, 15 and 20 s inside the statistical steady state regime. The independence of the averaged results regarding the time-averaging interval is addressed and the results averaged over the intervals of 10 and 20 s are compared to both experiment and other two-fluid predictions. It is concluded that the two-fluid model used is still very crude, and cannot provide quantitative accurate results, at least for the particular case that was considered.     

CFD simulation of gas–solid flow with a cluster structure-dependent drag coefficient model in circulating fluidized beds

To model the effect of clusters on hydrodynamics of gas and particles phases in risers, the interfacial drag coefficient is taken into account in computational fluid dynamic simulations by means of a two-fluid model. The momentum and energy balances that characterize the clusters in the dense phase and dispersed particles in the dilute phase are described by the multi-scale resolution approach. The model of cluster structure-dependent (CSD) drag coefficient is proposed on the basis of the minimization of energy dissipation by heterogeneous drag (MEDHD) in the full range of Reynolds number. The model of CSD drag coefficient is then incorporated into the two-fluid model to simulate flow behavior of gas and particles in a riser. The distributions of volume fraction and velocity of particles are predicted. Simulated results are in agreement with experimental data published in the literature.     

Direct numerical simulation of laminar–turbulent flow over a flat plate at hypersonic flow speeds

A method for direct numerical simulation of a laminar–turbulent flow around bodies at hypersonic flow speeds is proposed. The simulation is performed by solving the full three-dimensional unsteady Navier–Stokes equations. The method of calculation is oriented to application of supercomputers and is based on implicit monotonic approximation schemes and a modified Newton–Raphson method for solving nonlinear difference equations. By this method, the development of three-dimensional perturbations in the boundary layer over a flat plate and in a near-wall flow in a compression corner is studied at the Mach numbers of the free-stream of M = 5.37. In addition to pulsation characteristic, distributions of the mean coefficients of the viscous flow in the transient section of the streamlined surface are obtained, which enables one to determine the beginning of the laminar–turbulent transition and estimate the characteristics of the turbulent flow in the boundary layer.     

Direct numerical simulation of the laminar–turbulent transition at hypersonic flow speeds on a supercomputer

A method for direct numerical simulation of three-dimensional unsteady disturbances leading to a laminar–turbulent transition at hypersonic flow speeds is proposed. The simulation relies on solving the full three-dimensional unsteady Navier–Stokes equations. The computational technique is intended for multiprocessor supercomputers and is based on a fully implicit monotone approximation scheme and the Newton–Raphson method for solving systems of nonlinear difference equations. This approach is used to study the development of three-dimensional unstable disturbances in a flat-plate and compression-corner boundary layers in early laminar–turbulent transition stages at the free-stream Mach number M = 5.37. The three-dimensional disturbance field is visualized in order to reveal and discuss features of the instability development at the linear and nonlinear stages. The distribution of the skin friction coefficient is used to detect laminar and transient flow regimes and determine the onset of the laminar–turbulent transition.     

Predicting gas–liquid flow in a mechanically stirred tank

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) provides a method for investigating the highly complex fluid flow in mechanically stirred tanks. Although there are quite a number of papers in the literature describing CFD methods for modelling stirred tanks, most only consider single-phase flow. However, multiphase mixtures occur very frequently in the process industries, and these are more complex situations for which modelling is not as well developed. This paper reports on progress in developing CFD simulations of gas–liquid mixing in a baffled stirred tank. The model is three-dimensional and the impeller region is explicitly included using a Multiple Frames of Reference method to account for the relative movement between impeller and baffles. Fluid flow is calculated with a turbulent two-fluid model using a finite-volume method. Several alternative treatments of the multiphase equations are possible, including various expressions for drag and dispersion forces, and a number of these have been tested. Variation in bubble size due to coalescence and break-up is also modelled. The CFD simulation method has been used to model a gas-sparged tank equipped with a Rushton turbine, and simulation results are compared with experimental data. Results to date show the correct pattern of gas distribution and the correct trends in local bubble size in the tank. Further work is needed to improve the quantitative agreement with experimental data.     

Mathematical simulation of gas–liquid mixture flow in a reservoir and a wellbore with allowance for the dynamical interactions in the reservoir–well system

Fluid dynamic processes related to mature oil field development are simulated by applying a numerical algorithm based on the gas–liquid mixture flow equations in a reservoir and a wellbore with allowance for the dynamical interaction in the reservoir–well system. Numerical experiments are performed in which well production characteristics are determined from wellhead parameters.     

Cavity flow simulation of Carreau–Yasuda non-Newtonian fluids using PIM meshfree method

Lid-driven cavity flow of a purely-viscous non-Newtonian fluid obeying Carreau–Yasuda rheological model is studied numerically using the PIM meshfree method combined with the Characteristic-Based Split-A algorithm. Results are reported for the velocity and pressure profiles at Reynolds numbers as high as 1000 for a non-Newtonian fluid obeying Carreau–Yasuda rheological model. For Newtonian fluids, results obtained from our PIM–CBS-A method show good agreement with benchmark results published in the literature and obtained using finite difference and/or Finite Element Methods. Our numerical results are also consistent with recent published results obtained using another meshfree method called LSM with the advantage that PIM needs less “points” to achieve the same degree of accuracy. Results obtained for the Carreau–Yasuda model reveals the strong effect of the shear-thinning behavior of a fluid on its flow kinematics within the cavity.     

Predictions of the gas–liquid flow in wet electrostatic precipitators

Based on Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), the present paper aims to simulate several important phenomena in a wet type ESP from the liquid spray generation to gas-droplet flow in electric field. A single passage between the adjacent plates is considered for the simulation domain. Firstly, the electric field intensity and ion charge density are solved locally around a corona emitter of a barbed wire electrode, which are applied to the entire ESP using periodic conditions. Next, the Euler–Lagrange method is used to simulate the gas-droplet flow. Water droplets are tracked statistically along their trajectories, together with evaporation and particle charging. Finally, the deposition density on the plate is taken as the input for the liquid film model. The liquid film is simulated separately using the homogenous Eulerian approach in ANSYS-CFX. In the current case, since the free surface of the thin water film is difficult to resolve, a special method is devised to determine the film thickness.As parametric study, the variables considered include the nozzle pressure, initial spray spreading patterns (solid versus hollow spray) and plate wettability. The droplet emission rate and film thickness distribution are the results of interest. Main findings: electric field has strong effect on the droplet trajectories. Hollow spray is preferred to solid spray for its lower droplet emission. The liquid film uniformity is sensitive to the plate wettability.     

Numerical simulation of blowup in nonlocal reaction–diffusion equations using a moving mesh method

In this paper we implement the moving mesh PDE method for simulating the blowup in reaction–diffusion equations with temporal and spacial nonlinear nonlocal terms. By a time-dependent transformation, the physical equation is written into a Lagrangian form with respect to the computational variables. The time-dependent transformation function satisfies a parabolic partial differential equation — usually called moving mesh PDE (MMPDE). The transformed physical equation and MMPDE are solved alternately by central finite difference method combined with a backward time-stepping scheme. The integration time steps are chosen to be adaptive to the blowup solution by employing a simple and efficient approach. The monitor function in MMPDEs plays a key role in the performance of the moving mesh PDE method. The dominance of equidistribution is utilized to select the monitor functions and a formal analysis is performed to check the principle. A variety of numerical examples show that the blowup profiles can be expressed correctly in the computational coordinates and the blowup rates are determined by the tests.     

Reflection and refraction of a plane thermoelastic wave at a solid–solid interface under perfect boundary condition,in presence of normal initial stress

Using the basic governing equations for isotropic and homogeneous generalized thermo elastic media under initial stress, the reflection and refraction of thermo elastic plane waves at the interface of two dissimilar thermo elastic solid half-spaces has been investigated. The amplitude ratios of various reflected and refracted waves are obtained for an ideal boundary for the incidence of SV-wave. The numerical computations are carried out for a particular model. The effect of initial stress on the amplitude ratios are shown graphically after numerical calculation.     

Homogenization of a conductive suspension in a Stokes–Boussinesq flow

Radiant spherical suspensions have an ε-periodic distribution in a tridimensional incompressible viscous fluid governed by the Stokes–Boussinesq system. We perform the homogenization procedure when the radius of the solid spheres is of order ε³ (the critical size of perforations for the Navier-Stokes system) and when the ratio of the fluid/solid conductivities is of order ε⁶, the order of the total volume of suspensions. Adapting the methods used in the study of small inclusions, we prove that the macroscopic behavior is described by a Brinkman–Boussinesq type law and two coupled heat equations, where certain capacities of the suspensions and of the radiant sources appear.     

Unsteady flow and heat transfer in a thin film of Ostwald–de Waele liquid over a stretching surface

In this paper, the effects of viscous dissipation and the temperature-dependent thermal conductivity on an unsteady flow and heat transfer in a thin liquid film of a non-Newtonian Ostwald–de Waele fluid over a horizontal porous stretching surface is studied. Using a similarity transformation, the time-dependent boundary-layer equations are reduced to a set of non-linear ordinary differential equations. The resulting five parameter problem is solved by the Keller–Box method. The effects of the unsteady parameter on the film thickness are explored numerically for different values of the power-law index parameter and the injection parameter. Numerical results for the velocity, the temperature, the skin friction and the wall-temperature gradient are presented through graphs and tables for different values of the pertinent parameter. One of the important findings of the study is that the film thickness increases with an increase in the power-law index parameter (as well as the injection parameter). Quite the opposite is true with the unsteady parameter. Furthermore, the wall-temperature gradient decreases with an increase in the Eckert number or the variable thermal conductivity parameter. Furthermore, the surface temperature of a shear thinning fluid is larger compared to the Newtonian and shear thickening fluids. The results obtained reveal many interesting behaviors that warrant further study of the equations related to non-Newtonian fluid phenomena, especially the shear-thinning phenomena.     

Chaotic analysis of pressure fluctuation signal in the gas–liquid–solid slurry column

The pressure signal of a slurry column is easily obtained by using a pressure sensor, and a chaotic analysis method is used to analyze these signals in order to indicate the flow pattern of the slurry column. The slopes of the correlation integral curve indicate the flow pattern of the slurry column in various operating conditions. The flow pattern is dispersed bubble regime when the superficial velocity is low and the correlation integral curve has two slopes. The flow pattern changes into transition regime with increase in the superficial velocity, the correlation integral curve has only one slope. In the case of the flow pattern becoming a slugging regime, there are several slopes to the correlation integral curve. So it is convenient to find out the flow pattern in the slurry column by solving the slopes of the correlation integral of the pressure signal. The maximum Lyapunov exponent represents the chaos in a slurry column with various solid holdups. The maximum Lyapunov exponent is nearly similar at different heights when the flow patterns are dispersed bubble regime and slugging regime, but the maximum Lyapunov exponent at the axial height is quite different when the flow pattern is transition regime.     

Optimal boundary control with critical penalization for a PDE model of fluid–solid interactions

We study the finite-horizon optimal control problem with quadratic functionals for an established fluid-structure interaction model. The coupled PDE system under investigation comprises a parabolic (the fluid) and a hyperbolic (the solid) dynamics; the coupling occurs at the interface between the regions occupied by the fluid and the solid. We establish several trace regularity results for the fluid component of the system, which are then applied to show well-posedness of the Differential Riccati Equations arising in the optimization problem. This yields the feedback synthesis of the unique optimal control, under a very weak constraint on the observation operator; in particular, the present analysis allows general functionals, such as the integral of the natural energy of the physical system. Furthermore, this work confirms that the theory developed in Acquistapace et al. (Adv Diff Eq, [2])—crucially utilized here—encompasses widely differing PDE problems, from thermoelastic systems to models of acoustic-structure and, now, fluid-structure interactions.     

Assessment of turbulence modeling for gas flow in two-dimensional convergent–divergent rocket nozzle

In the present study, the turbulent gas flow dynamics in a two-dimensional convergent–divergent rocket nozzle is numerically predicted and the associated physical phenomena are investigated for various operating conditions. The nozzle is assumed to have impermeable and adiabatic walls with a flow straightener in the upstream side and is connected to a plenum surrounding the nozzle geometry and extended in the downstream direction. In this integrated component model, the inlet flow is assumed a two-dimensional, steady, compressible, turbulent and subsonic. The physics based mathematical model of the considered flow consists of conservation of mass, momentum and energy equations subject to appropriate boundary conditions as defined by the physical problem stated above. The system of the governing equations with turbulent effects is solved numerically using different turbulence models to demonstrate their numerical accuracy in predicting the characteristics of turbulent gas flow in such complex geometry. The performance of the different turbulence models adopted has been assessed by comparing the obtained results of the static wall pressure and the shock position with the available experimental and numerical data. The dimensionless shear stress at the nozzle wall and the separation point are also computed and the flow field is illustrated. The various implemented turbulence models have shown different behavior of the turbulent characteristics. However, the shear-stress transport (SST) k–ω model exhibits the best overall agreement with the experimental measurements. In general, the proposed numerical procedure applied in the present paper shows good capability in predicting the physical phenomena and the flow characteristics encountered in such kinds of complex turbulent flow.     

A numerical analysis of solid–liquid phase change heat transfer around a horizontal cylinder

A numerical study is conducted to analyze the melting process around a horizontal circular cylinder in the presence of the natural convection in the melt phase. Two boundary conditions are investigated one of constant wall temperature over the surface of the cylinder and the other of constant heat flux. A numerical code is developed using an unstructured finite-volume method and an enthalpy porosity technique to solve for natural convection coupled to solid–liquid phase change. The validity of the numerical code used is ascertained by comparing our results with previously published results.     

Computational fluid dynamics and experimental study of the hydrodynamics of a gas–solid tapered fluidized bed

In the present work, experimental and numerical studies for the hydrodynamics in a gas–solid tapered fluidized bed have been carried out. The experimental results obtained by carrying out experiments in a tapered fluidized bed for glass bead (spherical) of 2.0 mm and dolomite (non-spherical particles) of 2.215 mm in diameter, were compared with the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation results, using a commercial CFD software package, Fluent. The gas–solid flow was simulated using the Eulerian–Eulerian model and applying the kinetic theory of granular flow for solid particles. The Gidaspow drag model was used to calculate the gas–solid momentum exchange coefficients. Pressure drops predicted by the CFD simulations agreed reasonably well with experimental measurements for both types (spherical and non-spherical) of particles. Good agreement was also obtained between experimental and CFD predicted bed expansion ratios for both types of particles. Present study provides a useful basis for further works on the CFD of tapered fluidized bed.     

Applying a non-equilibrium wall function in k–ε turbulent modelling of hydrodynamic circulating flow

Wall bounded flow with severe adverse pressure, separation, reattachment and stagnation has non-equilibrium (NE) exhibition. A wall function in turbulent flow is a remedy to avoid resolving near wall complex phenomena using predetermined functions as boundary conditions. The advantage of this case is permission to use a relatively coarse near wall cells and hence saving CPU time. Standard wall function (SWF) is a semi-empirical function that is just valid for constant shear near wall cell and local equilibrium flow. Popovac and Hanjalic introduced a non-equilibrium wall function as (PWF) with a blending method in v²–f model. To investigate PWF in circulating flow, standard k–ε model that has key role in complex and expensive industrial problems is used in this study. The approach derived by Popovac and Hanjalic retains the functional form of the SWF and can be easily implemented in existing code. Simulation results are validated against direct numerical simulation (DNS) on channel and experimental data on backward facing step (BS) and a sharp U bend flow. Prediction with PWF shows that use of this wall function in k–ε model has not any sensitive change in near equilibrium flow. However, produces an improvement in NE conditions like flow in circulation zones.     

A non-iterative immersed boundary-lattice Boltzmann method with boundary condition enforced for fluid–solid flows

A non-iterative immersed boundary lattice Boltzmann method (IB-LBM) is proposed in this work for the simulation of fluid–solid flows. In the scheme, the interface is implemented by the correction of the neighboring distribution functions, similar to that of the LBM. Such treatment of the boundary is contrary to the traditional methods, where the interface is usually modeled as a generator of external force. Therefore, an advantage of the present method is to remove the efforts to evaluate the IB force and then incorporate it into the governing equation. Furthermore, an adjustment parameter is introduced to the immersed boundary scheme, which ensures the interpolated distribution functions derive the desired velocity at the boundary. Compared with the solution of a large boundary matrix and the multiple force correction that generally used in the previous studies, the present method is simpler and efficient without any iterative procedures. Those above-mentioned features make the present scheme based on the correction of the distribution function, with the enforcement of no-slip boundary condition. Simulation of flow past a fixed cylinder shows that there is no penetration of streamlines to the cylinder surface, indicating a well enforcement of the no-slip boundary condition. This scheme is further validated in the flows of a cylinder oscillating in a quiescent fluid, circular and elliptical particles settling in a channel. The results have good agreement with those data available in the literature.