Search results for "Fluid dynamics"

Solid sediment transport in turbulent channel flow over irregular rough boundaries

2017

Abstract The presence of a loading of dispersed particles in a turbulent flow affects the dynamics of the carrier flow field which, in turn, drives grains movement. The focus of the paper is on the analysis of the coupling effects between near-bed turbulence structures and the dynamics of dispersed suspended solid particles in wall-bounded turbulent multiphase flows. We consider turbulent horizontal channel flows bounded by rough boundaries. The friction Reynolds number of the unladen flow is R e τ = 180 and the dispersed phase spans one order of magnitude of particle diameter. To analyze sedimentation and suspended phase transport, we adopt concepts and modeling ideas derived from the Eule…

Inferring rheology and geometry of subsurface structures by adjoint-based inversion of principal stress directions

2020

SUMMARY Imaging subsurface structures, such as salt domes, magma reservoirs or subducting plates, is a major challenge in geophysics. Seismic imaging methods are, so far, the most precise methods to open a window into the Earth. However, the methods may not yield the exact depth or size of the imaged feature and may become distorted by phenomena such as seismic anisotropy, fluid flow, or compositional variations. A useful complementary method is therefore to simulate the mechanical behaviour of rocks on large timescales, and compare model predictions with observations. Recent studies have used the (non-linear) Stokes equations and geometries from seismic studies in combination with an adjoi…

Accumulation and self-organization in hydrofracturetransport of fluids

2003

Abstract Propagation of “mobile hydrofractures” is one of several mechanisms to transport fluids. Analogue experiments show howthis transport mechanism is intimately linked with accumulation, by stepwise mergers of fluid batches. Analogue experiments and numerical modelling indicate that such stepwise transport and accumulation may lead to the establishment of a self-organised critical state.

CFD simulation of gas-liquid hydrodynamics in a rectangular air–lift loop reactor

2006

Computational Fluid Dynamics is an increasingly important tool for carrying out realistic simulations of process apparatuses. As a difference from single phase systems, for multi phase systems the development of CFD models is still at its early stages. Moreover, gas-liquid systems are characterised by an additional complexity level, related to the fact that, as a difference with solid-liquid systems, bubble sizes are not known in advance, being rather the result of formation and breakage-coalescence dynamics, and therefore of complex phenomena related to flow dynamics and interfacial effects. In the present work CFD simulations of gas-liquid air-lift reactors are reported. All bubbles are a…

Membrane Distillation efficiency increase by enhanced heat transfer

2009

Fluid-structure interaction and flow redistribution in membrane-bounded channels

2019

The hydrodynamics of electrodialysis and reverse electrodialysis is commonly studied by neglecting membrane deformation caused by transmembrane pressure (TMP). However, large frictional pressure drops and differences in fluid velocity or physical properties in adjacent channels may lead to significant TMP values. In previous works, we conducted one-way coupled structural-CFD simulations at the scale of one periodic unit of a profiled membrane/channel assembly and computed its deformation and frictional characteristics as functions of TMP. In this work, a novel fluid&ndash

A Thermochromic Liquid Crystals Image Analysis technique to investigate temperature polarization in spacer-filled channels for Membrane Distillation

2013

The analysis of flow fields and temperature distributions is of paramount importance in the development and optimization of new spacer-filled channel geometries for Membrane Distillation modules. The literature reports only few studies on the experimental characterization of such channels and, to the authors’ knowledge, none of them presents local information concerning the temperature distribution on the membrane surface. In the present work, a non-intrusive experimental technique named TLC-IA-TP is presented: it is based on the use of Thermochromic Liquid Crystals (TLCs) and digital Image Analysis (IA) and it is applied here for the first time to the analysis of Temperature Polarization (…

Numerical prediction of flow fields in baffled stirred vessels: A comparison of alternative modelling approaches

1998

Abstract Numerical simulations of the flow field in baffled mixing tanks, based on three alternative methods, are presented and discussed. In the first method, the impeller is not explicitly simulated, and its effects are modelled by imposing suitable, empirically derived, boundary conditions to the external flow. In the second method, the whole vessel volume is divided into two concentric, partially overlapping, regions. In the inner region, containing the impeller, the flow field is simulated in the rotating reference frame of the latter, while in the outer region simulations are conducted in the reference frame of the laboratory. Information is iteratively exchanged between the two regio…

Dense solid–liquid off-bottom suspension dynamics: Simulation and experiment

2009

Dense solid–liquid off-bottom suspension inside a baffled mechanically stirred tank equipped with a standard Rushton turbine is investigated. Dynamic evolution of the suspension from start-up to steady-state conditions has been determined by both visual experiments and computational fluid dynamics (CFDs). A classical Eulerian–Eulerian multifluid model (MFM) along with the “homogeneous” k–ε turbulence model is adopted to simulate suspension dynamics. In these systems the drag inter-phase force affects both solids suspension and distribution. Therefore, different computational approaches are tested in order to compute this term. Simulation results are compared with images obtained from the re…

Analysis of the bubbling behaviour of 2-D gas solid fluidized beds part II: Comparison between experiments and numerical simulations via Digital Imag…

2009

In the field of gas–solid fluidization, bubbles, and all features regarding them, have a very great importance, as they significantly affect the process performance. Numerous experimental studies on bubbles, and their formation, evolution, and properties, have been performed in the past. These investigations appear particularly difficult, due to the nature of these systems, since the gas phase is distributed in both the bubble and the emulsion phase. Several experimental approaches have been developed to tackle this study. Among these, the Digital Image Analysis Technique purposely developed in Part I of the present work, based on the use of a video camera for monitoring the phenomenon coup…