Large Eddy Simulation of Distillation Sieve Tray Hydrodynamics using Volume-of-Fluid (VOF) Multiphase Model

• Published in: World Congress on Engineering 2012. July 4-6, 2012. London, UK Vol. 2187; pp. 800 - 805
• Main Authors: Malvin, A, Chan, A, Lau, P L
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.10.2010
• Subjects: Computational fluid dynamics; Fluid flow; Hydrodynamics; Large eddy simulation; Liquids; Mathematical models; Navier-Stokes equations; Sieve trays
• ISSN: 2078-0958

A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model is developed to predict the hydrodynamics and hydraulics of industrial-scale distillation sieve tray. Three-dimensional two-phase flow of gas and liquid is considered in which the interaction was modeled based on the concept of phasic volume defined in the Volume of Fluid (VOF) multiphase model through Large Eddy Simulation (LES). All governing equations including surface tension and wall adhesion are solved simultaneously using the FLUENT code. This preliminary work focuses on the improvement of the existing Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) based models in term of accuracy relative to experimental data. The computational domain and operating conditions were adapted from experimental study |1] where liquid velocity profiles, clear liquid height, and flow patterns were among the important quantities monitored. Gas-liquid interfaces and the existence of froth regime are clearly visualized via VOF model. The predicted quantities are found out to be in very good agreement with experimental data having discrepancies of less than 1.0%. Mesh resolutions above the bubbling area is identified as the key factor in accurate modeling of sieve tray hydrodynamics. The present model can be utilized with high confidence as the basis for the optimization of sieve tray mechanical design.