scholarly journals Large-Eddy Simulation of a Hydrocyclone with an Air Core Using Two-Fluid and Volume-of-Fluid Models

Fluids ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (10) ◽  
pp. 364
Author(s):  
Hassan Fayed ◽  
Mustafa Bukhari ◽  
Saad Ragab

Large-eddy simulations have been conducted for two-phase flow (water and air) in a hydrocyclone using Two-Fluid (Euler–Euler) and Volume-of-Fluid (VOF) models. Subgrid stresses are modeled using a dynamic eddy–viscosity model, and results are compared to those using the Smagorinsky model. The effects of grid resolutions on the mean flow and turbulence statistics have been thoroughly investigated. Five block-structured grids of 0.72, 1.47, 2.4, 3.81, and 7.38 million elements have been used for the simulations of Hsieh’s 75 mm hydrocyclone Mean velocity profiles and normal Reynolds stresses have been compared with experimental data. Results of the two-fluid model are in good agreement with those of the VOF model. A fine mesh in the axial and radial directions is necessary for capturing the turbulent vortical structure. Turbulence structures in the hydrocyclone are dominated by helical vortices around the air core. Energy spectra are analyzed at different points in the hydrocyclone, and regions of low turbulent kinetic energy are identified and attributed to stabilizing effects of the swirling velocity component.

Author(s):  
Stamatis Kalogerakos ◽  
Mustapha Gourma ◽  
Chris Thompson

Severe limitations of the use of three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics codes (CFD) arise when trying to simulate multiphase flow in long pipes due to time constraints. 1D codes for two-phase flow, based on two-fluid models, are fast but are known to be accurate only when the velocities are within the Kelvin-Helmholtz inviscid limit [1]. An alternative is to carry out a two-dimensional CFD simulation of a channel based on the Volume of Fluid (VOF) model. 2D CFD has a wider applicability range compared to 1D, it does not have the issue of ill-posedness and it also has better turbulence models built in. Again compared to 1D the 2D VOF model has a better interface description and wall treatment. In this paper a novel method is introduced that allows swift simulations of pipeline two-phase flow in the stratified and slug flow regime, by approximating the pipe as a channel and with a methodology that solves the problem of the interfacial velocity differences, inherent in the volume of fluid model. An initial validation using the wave growth problem has already been carried out [2]. Here a set consisting of 92 experimental cases in the slug flow regime has been simulated with 2D CFD, and the simulation results showed a good agreement with experimental results. Discussions in the paper include also the question of the range of applicability for 2D CFD, and the advantages and disadvantages compared to 3D CFD and also to 1D code based on the two-fluid model. Shear stresses are then extracted from the 2D CFD simulations and used to recalibrate the friction factors [3] used in the 1D code.


2007 ◽  
Vol 129 (11) ◽  
pp. 1372-1383 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyoungsik Chang ◽  
George Constantinescu ◽  
Seung-O Park

The three-dimensional (3D) incompressible flow past an open cavity in a channel is predicted using the Spalart–Almaras (SA) and the shear-stress-transport model (SST) based versions of detached eddy simulation (DES). The flow upstream of the cavity is fully turbulent. In the baseline case the length to depth (L∕D) ratio of the cavity is 2 and the Reynolds number ReD=3360. Unsteady RANS (URANS) is performed to better estimate the performance of DES using the same code and meshes employed in DES. The capabilities of DES and URANS to predict the mean flow, velocity spectra, Reynolds stresses, and the temporal decay of the mass of a passive contaminant introduced instantaneously inside the cavity are assessed based on comparisons with results from a well resolved large eddy simulation (LES) simulation of the same flow conducted on a very fine mesh and with experimental data. It is found that the SA-DES simulation with turbulent fluctuations at the inlet gives the best overall predictions for the flow statistics and mass exchange coefficient characterizing the decay of scalar mass inside the cavity. The presence of inflow fluctuations in DES is found to break the large coherence of the vortices shed in the separated shear layer that are present in the simulations with steady inflow conditions and to generate a wider range of 3D eddies inside the cavity, similar to LES. The predictions of the mean velocity field from URANS and DES are similar. However, URANS predictions show poorer agreement with LES and experiment compared to DES for the turbulence quantities. Additionally, simulations with a higher Reynolds number (ReD=33,600) and with a larger length to depth ratio (L∕D=4) are conducted to study the changes in the flow and shear-layer characteristics, and their influence on the ejection of the passive contaminant from the cavity.


Author(s):  
Deepu Dilip ◽  
Danesh Tafti

Large Eddy Simulations (LES) of wall-bounded flows at high Reynolds numbers demand an extremely fine mesh resolution in the wall proximal inner layer. Accurate modeling of near wall turbulence is therefore crucial in reducing the computational cost of LES at practical Reynolds numbers. One approach is the implementation of a two-layer model that solves for a reduced one-dimensional boundary layer equation in the inner wall layer. A wall modeled LES thus allows for a coarser grid resolution than a wall resolved LES. This work evaluated the performance of a wall modeled LES against a wall resolved LES as well as experimental data for the flow over a wall mounted hump at Reynolds number 9.36×105. Results from the wall modeled LES were in good agreement with both wall resolved LES and experimental data in parameters such as surface pressure coefficient, skin friction, mean velocity profiles, Reynolds stresses and flow reattachment. It was observed that the wall modeled LES required only a fifth of the computational resources required for the wall resolved LES.


2014 ◽  
Vol 136 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
B. A. Younis ◽  
A. Abrishamchi

The paper reports on the prediction of the turbulent flow field around a three-dimensional, surface mounted, square-sectioned cylinder at Reynolds numbers in the range 104–105. The effects of turbulence are accounted for in two different ways: by performing large-eddy simulations (LES) with a Smagorinsky model for the subgrid-scale motions and by solving the unsteady form of the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations (URANS) together with a turbulence model to determine the resulting Reynolds stresses. The turbulence model used is a two-equation, eddy-viscosity closure that incorporates a term designed to account for the interactions between the organized mean-flow periodicity and the random turbulent motions. Comparisons with experimental data show that the two approaches yield results that are generally comparable and in good accord with the experimental data. The main conclusion of this work is that the URANS approach, which is considerably less demanding in terms of computer resources than LES, can reliably be used for the prediction of unsteady separated flows provided that the effects of organized mean-flow unsteadiness on the turbulence are properly accounted for in the turbulence model.


Author(s):  
Sowjanya Vijiapurapu ◽  
Jie Cui

Fully developed turbulent pipe flow is investigated by large eddy simulations (LES). The three-dimensional, unsteady, incompressible, filtered continuity and Navier-Stokes equations in cylindrical coordinates are discretized by a finite difference method. The spatial derivatives are approximated by second order conservative schemes. This scheme eliminates the numerical generation or dissipation of energy. The pressure Poisson equation is solved by FFT method and time is advanced through a third order Runge-Kutta method. The commonly used subgrid scale (SGS) models — the Smagorinsky model and the dynamic model are implemented and simulations are performed for fully developed turbulent pipe flow at two different Reynolds numbers. The flow features in terms of mean velocity as well as higher order turbulence intensities and correlations are presented and compared to experimental and DNS data available in literature. Extensive comparisons are made for cases using different grid resolution, different streamwise domain dimension, different sub-grid scale model, and, at two different Reynolds number. For two Reynolds numbers (5,000 and 30,000) tested in this study, the fine mesh (64 × 96 × 64, circumferential × radial × longitudinal) produces better results than the coarse mesh (32 × 48 × 32), indicating the significance of the grid resolution, especially near the pipe surface. On the fine mesh for the two Reynolds numbers, the results exhibit a slight Reynolds number effect, indicating the mesh needs to be further refined at higher Reynolds number. Simulations were performed for two domain sizes, namely 6D and 12D, where D is the pipe diameter. When the streamwise grid resolution remains unchanged, the two simulations show negligible difference. This ensures that a 6D domain is adequate to include the largest eddies in a fully developed turbulent pipe flow at the current Reynolds number. When the fine mesh is used, the subgrid scale models (Smagorinsky and Dynamic) provide limited contribution to the total turbulent kinetic energy. Although the current results agree quite well with other published LES simulations, when compared with the Law of the wall, benchmark experiments and DNS results, the simulated mean velocity in the log region is higher than the experimental and DNS data. Overall, it was observed that the numerical methods work satisfactorily well for turbulent pipe flows at low and high Reynolds numbers, and, the method has capability to be used in the simulation of flows with practical interest.


2001 ◽  
Vol 428 ◽  
pp. 1-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. B. JONES ◽  
IVAN MARUSIC ◽  
A. E. PERRY

An experimental and theoretical investigation of turbulent boundary layers developing in a sink-flow pressure gradient was undertaken. Three flow cases were studied, corresponding to different acceleration strengths. Mean-flow measurements were taken for all three cases, while Reynolds stresses and spectra measurements were made for two of the flow cases. In this study attention was focused on the evolution of the layers to an equilibrium turbulent state. All the layers were found to attain a state very close to precise equilibrium. This gave equilibrium sink flow data at higher Reynolds numbers than in previous experiments. The mean velocity profiles were found to collapse onto the conventional logarithmic law of the wall. However, for profiles measured with the Pitot tube, a slight ‘kick-up’ from the logarithmic law was observed near the buffer region, whereas the mean velocity profiles measured with a normal hot wire did not exhibit this deviation from the logarithmic law. As the layers approached equilibrium, the mean velocity profiles were found to approach the pure wall profile and for the highest level of acceleration Π was very close to zero, where Π is the Coles wake factor. This supports the proposition of Coles (1957), that the equilibrium sink flow corresponds to pure wall flow. Particular interest was also given to the evolutionary stages of the boundary layers, in order to test and further develop the closure hypothesis of Perry, Marusic & Li (1994). Improved quantitative agreement with the experimental results was found after slight modification of their original closure equation.


1982 ◽  
Vol 119 ◽  
pp. 121-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Udo R. Müller

An experimental study of a steady, incompressible, three-dimensional turbulent boundary layer approaching separation is reported. The flow field external to the boundary layer was deflected laterally by turning vanes so that streamwise flow deceleration occurred simultaneous with cross-flow acceleration. At 21 stations profiles of the mean-velocity components and of the six Reynolds stresses were measured with single- and X-hot-wire probes, which were rotatable around their longitudinal axes. The calibration of the hot wires with respect to magnitude and direction of the velocity vector as well as the method of evaluating the Reynolds stresses from the measured data are described in a separate paper (Müller 1982, hereinafter referred to as II). At each measuring station the wall shear stress was inferred from a Preston-tube measurement as well as from a Clauser chart. With the measured profiles of the mean velocities and of the Reynolds stresses several assumptions used for turbulence modelling were checked for their validity in this flow. For example, eddy viscosities for both tangential directions and the corresponding mixing lengths as well as the ratio of resultant turbulent shear stress to turbulent kinetic energy were derived from the data.


2019 ◽  
Vol 866 ◽  
pp. 503-525 ◽  
Author(s):  
Racheet Matai ◽  
Paul Durbin

Turbulent flow over a series of increasingly high, two-dimensional bumps is studied by well-resolved large-eddy simulation. The mean flow and Reynolds stresses for the lowest bump are in good agreement with experimental data. The flow encounters a favourable pressure gradient over the windward side of the bump, but does not relaminarize, as is evident from near-wall fluctuations. A patch of high turbulent kinetic energy forms in the lee of the bump and extends into the wake. It originates near the surface, before flow separation, and has a significant influence on flow development. The highest bumps create a small separation bubble, whereas flow over the lowest bump does not separate. The log law is absent over the entire bump, evidencing strong disequilibrium. This dataset was created for data-driven modelling. An optimization method is used to extract fields of variables that are used in turbulence closure models. From this, it is shown how these models fail to correctly predict the behaviour of these variables near to the surface. The discrepancies extend further away from the wall in the adverse pressure gradient and recovery regions than in the favourable pressure gradient region.


1998 ◽  
Vol 120 (2) ◽  
pp. 243-252 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. A. Jordan ◽  
S. A. Ragab

The formation and the downstream transport of the Strouhal vortices in the near wake of a circular cylinder are investigated using the large-eddy simulation (LES) method. The governing equations are formulated in curvilinear coordinates to accommodate a nonorthogonal grid with formal development of a dynamic model to account for the subgrid turbulent scales. Results were produced with and without use of the model. The focus of the investigation is at a subcritical Reynolds number of 5600. Using the dynamic model, the LES results compared best to the published experimental data in terms of both the global and local wake characteristics such as the drag and base pressure coefficients, shedding and detection frequencies, peak vorticity, and the downstream mean velocity-defect and Reynolds stresses. The results further showed streamwise filaments that connect subsequent Strouhal vortices. Qualitatively, the time-averaged Reynolds stresses of the formation region revealed similar symmetric characteristics over the range 525 ≤ Re ≤ 140,000.


2013 ◽  
Vol 274 ◽  
pp. 596-599 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ju Hui Chen ◽  
Ting Hu ◽  
Jiu Ru Li

Flow behavior of gas and particles is performed by means of gas–solid two-fluid model with the large eddy simulation for gas and the second order moment for particles in the riser. This study shows that the computed solids volume fractions of two cases are compared with the experimental data using a two-dimensional model. The gas and solid velocity is computed.


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