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Introduction
Mixing tanks are used to maintain solid particles or droplets of heavy fluids in suspension.
Mixing may be required to enhance reaction during chemical processing or to prevent
sedimentation. In this tutorial, you will use the Eulerian multiphase model to solve the
particle suspension problem. The Eulerian multiphase model solves momentum equations
for each of the phases, which are allowed to mix in any proportion.
This tutorial demonstrates how to do the following:
Use the granular Eulerian multiphase model.
Specify fixed velocities with a user-defined function (UDF) to simulate an impeller.
Set boundary conditions for internal flow.
Calculate a solution using the pressure-based solver.
Solve a time-accurate transient problem.
Prerequisites
This tutorial is written with the assumption that you have completed Tutorial 1, and
that you are familiar with the ANSYS FLUENT navigation pane and menu structure.
Some steps in the setup and solution procedure will not be shown explicitly.
Problem Description
The problem involves the transient startup of an impeller-driven mixing tank. The
primary phase is water, while the secondary phase consists of sand particles with a 111
micron diameter. The sand is initially settled at the bottom of the tank, to a level just
above the impeller. A schematic of the mixing tank and the initial sand position is shown
in Figure 21.1. The domain is modeled as 2D axisymmetric.
The fixed-values option will be used to simulate the impeller. Experimental data are used
to represent the time-averaged velocity and turbulence values at the impeller location.
This approach avoids the need to model the impeller itself. These experimental data are
provided in a user-defined function.
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.016 m
water
.4446 m
impeller
settled
.1728 m
sand
bed
.116 m
.0864 m
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Step 1: Mesh
1. Read the mesh file mixtank.msh.
File Read Mesh...
A warning message will be displayed twice in the console. You need not take any
action at this point, as the issue will be rectified when you define the solver settings
in Step 2.
Extra: You can use the right mouse button to check which zone number corresponds
to each boundary. If you click the right mouse button on one of the boundaries
in the graphics window, its zone number, name, and type will be printed in the
console. This feature is especially useful when you have several zones of the
same type and you want to distinguish between them quickly.
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4. Modify the view of the mesh display to show the full tank upright.
Graphics and Animations Views...
(a) Select axis from the Mirror Planes selection list and click Apply.
The mesh display will be updated to show both sides of the tank.
(b) Click Auto Scale.
This option is used to scale and center the current display without changing
its orientation (Figure 21.4).
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(c) Click the Camera... button to open the Camera Parameters dialog box.
i. Drag the indicator of the dial with the left mouse button in the counterclockwise direction until the upright view is displayed (Figure 21.5).
ii. Click Apply and close the Camera Parameters dialog box.
(d) Close the Views dialog box.
Note: While modifying the view, you may accidentally lose the view of the geometry
in the display. You can easily revert to the default (front) view by clicking the
Default button in the Views dialog box.
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Step 3: Models
Models
1. Enable the Eulerian multiphase model.
Models
Multiphase Edit...
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Viscous Edit...
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Step 4: Materials
Materials
In this step, you will add liquid water to the list of fluid materials by copying it from the
ANSYS FLUENT materials database and create a new material called sand.
1. Copy liquid water from the ANSYS FLUENT materials database so that it can be
used for the primary phase.
Materials
Fluid Create/Edit...
(a) Click the FLUENT Database... button to open the FLUENT Database Materials
dialog box.
(b) Select water-liquid (h2o<l>) from the FLUENT Fluid Materials selection list.
Scroll down the FLUENT Fluid Materials list to locate water-liquid (h2o<l>).
(c) Click Copy to copy the information for liquid water to your model.
(d) Close the FLUENT Database Materials dialog box.
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(a) Enter sand for Name and delete the entry in the Chemical Formula field.
(b) Enter 2500 kg/m3 for Density in the Properties group box.
(c) Click Change/Create.
A Question dialog box will open, asking if you want to overwrite water-liquid.
(d) Click No in the Question dialog box to retain water-liquid and add the new
material (sand) to the list.
The Create/Edit Materials dialog box will be updated to show the new material,
sand, in the FLUENT Fluid Materials drop-down list.
3. Close the Create/Edit Materials dialog box.
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Step 5: Phases
Phases
phase-1 Edit...
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phase-2 Edit...
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3. Specify the drag law to be used for computing the interphase momentum transfer.
Phases Interaction...
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A1
-7.1357e-2
3.1131e-2
2.2723e-2
-6.5819e-2
A2
54.304
-10.313
6.7989
88.845
A3
-3.1345e+3
9.5558e+2
-424.18
-5.3731e+3
A4
4.5578e+4
-2.0051e+4
9.4615e+3
1.1643e+5
A5
-1.966e+5
1.186e+5
-7.725e+4
-9.120e+5
A6
1.8410e+5
1.9567e+6
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For this problem, you do not have to specify any conditions for outer boundaries. Within
the domain, there are three fluid zones, representing the impeller region, the region where
the sand is initially located, and the rest of the tank. There are no conditions to be specified
in the latter two zones, so you need to set conditions only in the zone representing the
impeller.
1. Set the boundary conditions for the fluid zone representing the impeller (fix-zone)
for the primary phase.
Cell Zone Conditions
fix-zone
You will specify the conditions for water and sand separately using the UDF. The
default conditions for the mixture (i.e., conditions that apply to all phases) are
acceptable.
(a) Select water from the Phase drop-down list.
(b) Click the Edit... button to open the Fluid dialog box.
Value
udf fixed
udf fixed
udf fixed
udf fixed
u
v
ke
diss
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2. Set the boundary conditions for the fluid zone representing the impeller (fix-zone)
for the secondary phase.
Cell Zone Conditions
fix-zone
Value
udf fixed u
udf fixed v
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Step 8: Solution
1. Set the under-relaxation factors.
Solution Controls
(a) Enter 0.5 for Pressure, 0.2 for Momentum, and 0.8 for Turbulent Viscosity.
Hint: Scroll down in the Under-Relaxation Factors group box to locate Turbulent Viscosity.
2. Enable the plotting of residuals during the calculation.
Monitors
Residuals Edit...
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(a) Ensure that the Plot is enabled in the Options group box.
(b) Click OK to close the Residual Monitors dialog box.
3. Initialize the solution using the default initial values.
Solution Initialization
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6. Set the time stepping parameters and run the calculation for 0.005 seconds.
Run Calculation
(a) Enter 0.005 for Time Step Size.
(b) Enter 1 for Number of Time Steps.
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i. Select fix-zone from the Zone selection list and click Create.
The default name is the same as the zone name. ANSYS FLUENT will
automatically assign the default name to the new surface when it is created.
The new surface will be added to the Surfaces selection list in the Zone
Surface dialog box.
ii. Close the Zone Surface dialog box.
(b) Display the initial impeller velocities for water (Figure 21.6).
Graphics and Animations
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v. Select fix-zone from the Surfaces selection list and click Display.
ANSYS FLUENT will display the water velocity vectors fixes at the impeller
location, as shown in Figure 21.6.
i. Select sand from the Phase drop-down lists (below the Vectors of dropdown list and Color by drop-down lists).
ii. Click Display (Figure 21.7) and close the Vectors dialog box.
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i. Select water from the Phase drop-down lists (below the Vectors of dropdown list and Color by drop-down lists).
ii. Deselect fix-zone from the Surfaces selection list.
iii. Click Display.
Figure 21.9 shows the water velocity vectors after 1 second of operation. The
circulation is confined to the region near the impeller, and has not yet had
time to develop in the upper portions of the tank.
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i. Select sand from the Phase drop-down lists (below the Vectors of dropdown list and Color by drop-down lists).
ii. Click Display and close the Vectors dialog box.
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Figure 21.10 shows the sand velocity vectors after 1 second of operation. The
circulation of sand around the impeller is significant, but note that no sand
vectors are plotted in the upper part of the tank, where the sand is not yet
present.
(c) Display contours of sand volume fraction (Figure 21.11).
Graphics and Animations
i. Retain the selection of Phases... and Volume fraction from the Contours of
drop-down lists.
ii. Retain the selection of sand from the Phase drop-down list.
iii. Click Display and close the Contours dialog box.
Notice that the action of the impeller draws clear fluid from above the originally
settled bed and mixes it into the sand. To compensate, the sand bed is lifted
up slightly. The maximum sand volume fraction has decreased as a result of
the mixing of water and sand.
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Step 9: Postprocessing
You will now examine the progress of the sand and water in the mixing tank after a total
of 20 seconds. The mixing tank has nearly, but not quite, reached a steady flow solution.
1. Display the velocity vectors for water (Figure 21.12).
Graphics and Animations
Figure 21.12 shows the water velocity vectors after 20 seconds of operation. The
circulation of water is now very strong in the lower portion of the tank, though
modest near the top.
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Figure 21.13 shows the sand velocity vectors after 20 seconds of operation. The sand
has now been suspended much higher within the mixing tank, but does not reach the
upper region of the tank. The water velocity in that region is not sufficient to
overcome the gravity force on the sand particles.
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4. Display filled contours of static pressure for the mixture (Figure 21.15).
Graphics and Animations
Summary
This tutorial demonstrated how to set up and solve a granular multiphase problem using the Eulerian multiphase model. The problem involved the 2D modeling of particle
suspension in a mixing tank and postprocessing showed the near-steady-state behavior
of the sand in the mixing tank, under the assumptions made.
Further Improvements
This tutorial guides you through the steps to reach an initial solution. You may be able
to obtain a more accurate solution by using an appropriate higher-order discretization
scheme and by adapting the mesh. Mesh adaption can also ensure that the solution is
independent of the mesh. These steps are demonstrated in Tutorial 1.
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