See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/320597876

Numerical Simulations of Pulsed-Air Mixing Using Multiphase Computational Fluid Dynamics Methods

Poster · January 2011

CITATIONS READS

0 32

3 authors, including:

Seckin Gokaltun
Kingsbury Inc.
27 PUBLICATIONS   89 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

Uncertainty quantification of Computational Fluid Dynamics solvers View project

Non-continuum flows in micro-geometries View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Rinaldo Galdamez on 25 October 2017.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

. Numerical Simulations of Pulsed-Air Mixing Using Multiphase
Computational Fluid Dynamics Methods
Rinaldo G. Galdamez; Stephen Wood; Seckin Gokaltun, Ph.D.

Introduction Where ur is a velocity field suitable to compress the interface. This artificial term is Case # Pressure (psig)
Standoff
distance (cm)
Plate Diameter
(cm)
Gas pipe
active only in the interface region due to the term γ(1-γ). The density at any point in the
1 20 0.635 6.1 1/8 S40
Pulsed-air mixing is one the techniques that have been devised and experimented on domain is calculated as a weighted averaged of the volume fraction of the two fluids as
by the Department of Energy (DOE) for the transfer process of high-level waste from ρ=γρ + (1-γ)ρ.
single shell tanks to double shell tanks for safer storage.
A turbulence model was also explored for the CFD simulation of the pulsed air mixer.

Htank=23.62 in (60 cm)

Large eddy simulation (LES) is based on the computation of large energy-containing
structures that are resolved on the computational grid, where smaller, more isotropic,
subgrid structures are also modeled. This separation of scales is accomplished implicitly
in the finite volume method with low-pass filtering of the Navier-Stokes equations:
The purpose of this mixing technique is to decrease the probability of a plug occurring hstandoff
in the pipeline during the transfer process. Pulsed-air mixing consists of the injection of hvel=0.394 in (1 cm)

discrete pulses of air or inert gas by means of accumulator plates located at the bottom
of the tank. These pulses generate large bubbles that rise due to buoyancy and create
circulation in the surrounding fluid which contributes to mixing of the contents of the
tank. Pulsed-air mixers are operated by controlling the pulsing frequency, pulse
duration, dimensions of accumulator plates and gas pressure.
Where v is the velocity, p is the pressure, S = 2μD is the viscous stress tensor, where the Rtank=37.5 in (95.5 cm)
rate-of-strain tensor is expressed as D =1/2 (∇v + ∇vT) and μ is the viscosity. The LES
equations are theoretically derived using a pre-defined filter kernel function G = G(x, ∆),
such that:

A computational model was developed with COMSOL Multiphysics and OpenFOAM CFD Where overbars denote filtered quantities and commutation errors are not taken into
solvers using the level-set (LSM), phase field (PFM) and volume-of-fluid (VOF) account.
multiphase methods. First, results are provided for the analysis of a single bubble rising
using LSM, which is compared with reference literature. Second, laminar PFM and Benchmark Computations
turbulent VOF methods are used to simulate a 1/12 scale 2-D model of the tank mixing Simulations for a single bubble rising due to gravity were performed in COMSOL and
application and the results are compared to the experimental measurements reported OpenFOAM and verified against results of the reference literature using LSM and VOF
by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) [1]. It was found that the velocities respectively. Qualitative results are presented for the shape deformation of a bubble
obtained from the turbulent simulation were within an average relative error of 19%. (d=0.5) in a 1 by 2 domain at specified Eötvös and Morton numbers [2]. Quantitative
results are based on the circularity and terminal velocity of the bubble, defined by:
Materials and Methods
In COMSOL , the PFM application mode describes the two-phase flow dynamics using a
LES alpha field (alpha=0 for air and alpha=1 for water) Surface plot for LES velocity field
Cahn-Hilliard equation. The equation tracks a diffuse interface separating the Parameters for Validation Case
immiscible phases. The diffuse interface is defined as the region where the
dimensionless phase field variable, φ, goes from −1 to 1, being equal to 0 at the
ρ1
1000
ρ2
100
µ1
10
µ2
1
g σ
0.98 24.5
Re
35
Eo
10
M
0.0006
ρ1/ρ2
10
µ1/µ2
10
Discussion and Conclusion
interface. Two partial differential equations are solved: The CFD capabilities of COMSOL Multiphysics and OpenFOAM were implemented for
VOF the simulation of the single bubble benchmark study and the pulsed-air mixing
technology. For the first simulation, it was shown that both numerical solvers are able
to accurately model the single bubble validation study.
Where u is the fluid velocity, γ is the mobility, λ is the mixing energy density, and ε is
the interface thickness parameter. The ψ variable is referred to as the phase field help The PNNL experimental setup for the pulsed-air mixing technology was modeled in
variable. For both COMSOL and OpenFOAM, the transport of mass and momentum is both numerical solvers in a 2D space and half of the fluid domain in order to efficiently
governed by the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations, including surface tension: use the available computational resources. A turbulence model is essential to the
accurate modeling of this type of mixing technology. The results provided by LES are in
agreement with the experimental data provided by PNNL within a low and reasonable
LSM margin of error. Hence, simulating this application in a 2D space does not hinder the
ability of achieving good results with the numerical solvers. This is of primary
In OpenFOAM, using the VOF method, the volume of fluid in a cell is computed as importance for CFD modelers involved in this type of application since simulations in a
Fvol= Vcell, where Vcell is the volume of a computational cell and is the fluid fraction in 2D space are much less computationally expensive.
a cell. The values of in a cell should range between 1 and 0. At the interface, the value is
between 0 and 1. The scalar function can be computed from a separate transport For future work, the turbulence capabilities of COMSOL Multiphysics will be
equation that takes the form: investigated and implemented using the available k-ε and k-ω turbulence models. More
importantly, the effects of air pressure and plate diameter presented in the PNNL
report will also be simulated with both OpenFOAM and COMSOL Multiphysics.
The necessary compression of the surface is achieved by introducing an extra artificial Scaled Pulsed-Air Mixer Simulations
compression term into the VOF equation given: Acknowledgements
The pulsed-air mixer 2D simulation is modeled in COMSOL and OpenFOAM as one half
of the 1/12 Hanford DST scaled experimental tank setup used at PNNL. According to the This work is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental
data provided by PNNL, the air injection time is set at 0.4 s for the first case of the Management under Grant No. DE-FG01-05EW07033. Special thanks to:
experiment, corresponding at P=20 psi, Dplate=6.1 cm and hstandoff=0.635 cm. Air and  Seckin Gokaltun, Ph.D.
water are considered and its properties are set according to a temperature of 13.4 C.  Michael Sukop, Ph.D.
1. Powell, M R and Hymas, C R. Retrieval Process Development and Enhancements FY96 Pulsed-Air Mixer Testing and Deployment Study. Pacific
Northwest National Laboratory. 1996. PNNL 1200.
The velocity values at different locations along the centerline are given in the following  Merlin Ngachin, M.S.
2. Hysing, S, et al., et al. Quantitative benchmark computations of two-dimensional bubble dynamics. 2008, International Journal for Numerical graphs as well as surface plots for the volume fraction and velocity fields from VOF-LES.  Leonel Lagos, Ph.D.
Methods in Fluids, pp. 1259-1288. Presented at NSF CMMI Research and Innovation Conference 2011
January 4-7, 2011. Atlanta, GA.
View publication stats