APPLICATION BRIEF

The Challenge of Multiphase Flows in CFD Simulations

Whether designing a hypersonic transport free from ice buildup, developing a blood enzyme test,
delivering and melting rare metallic powder compounds for additive manufacturing or formulating
a filtration system to provide clean drinking water in a remote location, engineers must account
for the interactions between liquids, solids and gases. Each of these varied multiphase challenges
requires a different modeling approach. For over 40 years, Ansys has been developing the widest
range of accurate, multiphase modeling tools to predict product performance.

/ Accurate multiphase simulations depend on

accurate physics
Accurate simulations rely on accurate
predictions of the physical interactions
(mechanical, thermal and chemical)
between phases. As most of these
processes are costly or even impossible
to observe, engineers depend on
multiphase modeling and simulations
to gain insight into improving efficiency,
throughput, safety and reliability —
factors important to the bottom line.
Multiphase modeling is also important
as flow regimes can vary greatly from
location to location. For example,
flows at the bottom of a well may be
fully single phase, but transition to
multiphase as bubbles form toward
the top. In this and similar cases, the
location to be evaluated will inform the
choice of model.

Multiphase flows are much more

difficult to model than single-phase
flows. Completely describing the flow An oil and gas well may be fully liquid at the bottom
requires solving mass, momentum but, due to dissolved gases, will transition to bubbly
and energy equations for each of the flow toward the top as the pressure drops. Accurate
phases — and their exchange between simulation requires a range of multiphase models
the phases. Because of the wide range to capture the location-specific flows in the well.
of physical phenomena present and the
many possible different flow regimes,
proper modeling of these exchange
terms becomes crucial.

Phase change processes cause the

flow regime to vary from the bottom
to the top of this evaporator. Nearly all
gas-liquid multiphase flow regimes are
represented.
/ Free Surface Multiphase Flows
Free surface flows include two or more immiscible fluids, each of which is described as
continuous in significant parts of the flow domain. There are clearly recognizable regions
filled with a single fluid, although the shape and location of these regions may vary with
time. These regions are large enough that they can be covered by multiple grid cells in
volume of fluid (VOF) models that describe the shape and location of the interface between
fluids. Applications include: ship movement through water, dam break scenarios, fuel tank

The Challenge of Multiphase Flows in CFD Simulations // 1

/ Multiphase Design sloshing, stratified flows (distinct layers of different fluids), slug flows (very large gas bubbles
moving through a liquid in a pipe) and droplet breakup at inkjet printer nozzles.
Challenges
With the VOF approach, a single, fixed mesh covers the whole flow domain. The motion and
the local volume fraction of the phases are calculated along with the shape of the interface
between the phases. At any point in space, there is only one of the two fluid phases —
and only one velocity field per location. It is common, therefore, to solve only one velocity
field. However, in cases in which the velocity difference along the interface is large, the
robustness and accuracy of the calculations is improved if two separate velocity fields are
solved. Different interface tracking methods are available with different levels of accuracy,
calculation speed and numerical robustness.

Fuel tank sloshing: Ensure continu- /

ous fuel supply to the engine even
when broken pavement or sharp
turns cause sloshing.
click to play

Dispersed Multiphase Flows

In dispersed multiphase flows, there is one continuous phase
and one or more dispersed phases. The dispersed phases
consist of many small and discrete droplets, bubbles or solid
particles that are distributed throughout the continuous phase.
Injection: Ensure high-efficiency
Usually, the size of these particles is small compared with the
combustion in engines or high-quality
flow domain, and often they are smaller than the cell size in the
paint jobs using paint nozzles with
grid. Frequently, there are too many particles to calculate the
proper injection and dispersion
individual motion of each. The two most common methods
of fluids.
used to model these systems in a manageable fashion are the Eulerian method and the
Image courtesy of Delphi
Lagrangian method.

/ Eulerian Models
The Eulerian method describes the fluid-particle system as a
mixed continuous phase and solves the equations of mass,
momentum and energy for each phase. Droplets, bubbles
and particles are not tracked individually. The equations of
motion include the effects of the interphase drag force and
other relevant forces that occur in dispersed multiphase
systems. Typical results of the calculations are the local
velocities, temperature and volume fractions of each
phase. Interface shapes are not explicitly calculated. There
are several variations of the Eulerian multiphase model. In
cases in which the velocity difference between the phases
is relatively small, it is often possible to simplify the model by solving just one equation
of motion for the mixture (instead of equations for each phase). For bubbles or droplets,
the effects of breakup and coalescence can be included in the model to calculate size
distribution. For solid particles in a fluid or gas, a special Eulerian-Granular model is available
Coal gasification: Optimize
to account for the effects of particle collision, friction and packing density. The Eulerian
production while maximizing
method is commonly used for fluidized beds, bubble columns, mixing tanks, sedimentation,
fuel efficiency and minimizing
slurry flows, and pneumatic transport and hydrotransport systems.
pollutants. Multiphase
simulations must model fluid
flows but also track small and
immiscible particles while
they are undergoing complex
chemical reactions, such as
devolatilization and combustion.

The Challenge of Multiphase Flows in CFD Simulations // 2

/ Multiphase Design
Challenges
Cavitation: Maintain mass flow rates
and structural integrity of pumps,
valves or propellers. These fluids are
subject to pressure drops that initiate
a phase change and cause bubble
formation. The subsequent collapse of
the bubbles produces pressure spikes,
which limit performance and damage
the structures. The vapor bubbles
also block the pipe cross section and
reduce mass flow rates.
Boiling: Ensure high performance
and safety in nuclear reactors.
Boiling around the fuel rods must be
optimized for heat transfer: too little
and the performance will be poor; too
much and the fuel rods may melt. To
produce electricity, heat exchangers
flash high-pressure water into steam.
When boiling is incomplete, water
droplets remain in the flow, potentially
damaging the turbine blades.
Liquid films: On aircraft wings,
accurately predict how droplets
impinging on and separating from a
surface will change the structure of
a wall film. Accounting for how films
form and run is a challenge faced in
lots of engineering applications. At
low temperature conditions films can
quickly freeze and, in the case of an
aerodynamic structure, dramatically
change its behavior
/ Lagrangian Models
The Lagrangian particle tracking method calculates the trajectories of
individual particles or packets of particles or drops or bubbles in the
continuous phase. It is also known as the discrete phase model (DPM).
In practice, this method is most useful when the particles or droplets
occupy a small part of the total volume — usually less than 10 percent.
In cases in which the number of particles is too large to calculate, it is
possible to simplify the model by calculating a statistically significant
number of packets of particles. The effects of the particles on the
flow of the continuous phase (and vice versa) can be evaluated. Mass
transfer effects, such as evaporation and condensation, and chemical
reactions, such as combustion, can easily be included. Examples of
applications in which the Lagrangian model is used include: sprays
of droplets in air (e.g., paint), solid particles in air (e.g., fine powders in
asthma medication inhalers), or bubbles in liquids (e.g. dissolved gas
bubbles).
/ Particle-laden Flows
Dense discrete phase modeling (DDPM) and discrete element
modeling (DEM) is used for simulating particulate laden fluid flows.
DEM models the detailed interaction of individual particles and is
becoming increasingly useful when the simulation must account
for particle shape, rotation, collision, attrition and breakup. DDPM
models allow for efficient simulation of large systems of particles
using kenetic theory of grandular flows. Discrete phase models
may be coupled with other Eulerian models to account for fluid
phases.
/ Steady-state or Time-dependent
Multiphase flow calculations can be either steady-state or time-
dependent. Steady-state calculations are most suitable when
the final solution is independent of the initial conditions and there are distinct inflow
boundaries for the individual phases. Other situations are commonly modeled as time-
dependent. Because of the additional equations and the need to model many flows as
time dependent, multiphase flow modeling can become computationally intensive. Ansys
CFD works efficiently on parallel computing systems so that model turnaround times
remain reasonable.
/ Trends in Multiphase Flow Simulations
Even with today’s robust multiphase simulation capabilities,
engineers are pushing the envelope. They are including more
physics — reactions, moving bodies, high speeds, size changes,
phase change and heat transfer — and solving larger problems.
One energy producer is modeling a gravity oil-water separator
with a mesh count of over 1 billion cells.
And industries beyond oil and gas, chemical, power, automotive,
Speedo used multiphase
aerospace, marine, etc., are also turning to multiphase
flow simulations to design
simulations. Swimwear manufacturer Speedo is solving
high performance swim
multiphase models in the design of its goggles. Small in
goggles.
comparison with the size of the swimmer, the goggles require
Courtesy of Speedo
very high mesh counts to resolve droplets. The water film
thickness needs to be represented by at least 10 elements,
creating a very large problem size.
The Challenge of Multiphase Flows in CFD Simulations // 3
/ Putting it All Together: Modeling an
Automatic Dishwasher
Simulations are rarely as simple as modeling a single flow. To optimize
energy efficiency and water use in an automatic dishwasher, engineers used
multiphase and multiphysics models to simulate multiple fluid regime changes
occurring with jets spraying from the nozzles on the rotating arm, jets splashing
on dishes forming water film, dripping of film or droplets from the dishes and
pooling of water under the rotating arm. Using Ansys Fluent, they modeled the
water jets using a Lagrangian approach and efficiently captured the droplets
all the way from the rotating spray arm to the dishes. The Lagrangian wall film
model captured the water jets impinging on dishes to form a thin film and
provided vital information about film thickness, coverage and how these are
impacted by jet arm design. The VOF model described the flow due to gravity
and collection of dripping fluid film and droplets into the water pool at the
bottom. Evaporation and condensation models simulated the drying cycle.

This multiphase simulation of the dishwasher cycle is part of a larger

multiphysics project that started with Ansys SpaceClaim, which quickly created
the initial model and multiple alternative designs. Ansys Mechanical performed
both linear and nonlinear analyses to optimize the structure for flow-induced Transient multiphase simulation of a complete automatic
dishwasher cycle requires many different modeling
vibration, noise and fatigue. Ansys electronics and systems solutions evaluated
the electric motor, control panel display and sensors. capabilities including spray, wall film, volume of fluid,
phase change and more.

/ Ansys Solves Multiphase Flow Challenges

Ansys continues to advance its solver capabilities to deliver the solution fidelity, robustness, usability, speed and optimization
capabilities required to address the most difficult multiphase challenges. The complete Ansys simulation toolset is continually
validated and revalidated to ensure the right equations are solved, with minimal numerical, modeling and systematic errors. Ansys
high-performance computing (HPC) makes it practical to evaluate larger, higher-fidelity models with more complex physics — for
insight at every stage of the product development process.

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The Challenge of Multiphase Flows in CFD Simulations // 4