2012 ANSYS, Inc. December 17, 2012 1 Release 14.

5
14. 5 Release
Introduction to ANSYS CFX
Workshop 02
Mixing Tee with Particle
Transport Modeling
2012 ANSYS, Inc. December 17, 2012 2 Release 14.5
Introduction
Workshop Description:
In the last workshop we simulated the flow of a single-phase fluid within a pipe
T-piece. This workshop will use the same T-piece geometry. The Particle
Transport Model (PTM) enables us to compute the trajectories of a stream of
particles / droplets, based on their density and diameter.
Learning Aims:
Using the CFX Materials library
Defining particle materials
Injecting particles into the domain
Using either a constant or a distribution profile for the particle diameter
Learning Objectives:
To understand how CFX can be used to solve for the flow of Lagrangian
particles, and the key controls used to produce a reliable result.
Introduction Model Setup Basic PTM CFD Post Modifications Summary
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Simulation to be performed
The pipe simulated in workshop 1 is to be fitted in a petrochemicals
site. The working fluid will be Propane, and upstream some water
droplets are injected into the pipe.

This simulation will consider how
these water droplets are carried by
the gas flow, and to what extent they
impact on the pipe wall.

We will use a range of droplet sizes

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It is suggested that you start a fresh workbench project for this, although the
starting point will be the model built in workshop 1

Start a new workbench session

Drag a CFX Component System (see
picture opposite) onto the project.

Right-click on Setup, and select
Import Case, and Browse.

Browse to and select the Mixing Tee.cfx
setup file (workshop_input_files\
WS_02_Mixing Tee Particles)

Double click on Setup to open CFX-Pre


Loading a Mesh and Starting CFX
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Double-click the junction
domain to edit it
To the right of the
Material box, click the
icon, then click
to open the extended
materialis list
Under Gas Phase
Combustion, select C3H8
and click OK
On the form which
remains, click
C3H8, then click OK
Assigning Materials
We need to modify the main working fluid to change it to Propane. This requires accessing the CFX Materials Library
Introduction Model Setup Basic PTM CFD Post Modifications Summary
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Click the New Material icon
Set the Name to Droplet and click OK




Set the Material to Water
Under Morphology, select particle Transport Fluid




Assigning Materials
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Basic PTM Setup
We will solve an energy equation for the air and one for Droplet, the water particles.
Click the Fluid Models tab:
Set the Heat Transfer Option to Fluid Dependent


Click the Fluid Specific Models tab
For Fluid 1 under Heat Transfer Model,
set Option to Thermal energy
For Droplet, set Option to Particle
Temperature

Introduction Model Setup Basic PTM CFD Post Modifications Summary
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Basic PTM Setup
Click the Fluid Models tab
Set Particle Coupling to One-way
Coupling
The fluid affects the momentum / energy of
the droplets
The fluid flow (air) remains unaffected by
the momentum / energy exchange with the
droplets.
Two-way coupled behavior can be enabled
changing to fully coupled in the particle
coupling tab
Click OK to apply the settings and return
to the Outline


On the Fluid Pair Models tab, you specify how the Fluids interact with each other
The coupling of the droplet (PTM) motion with that of the continuous phase can either be one-way or two-way
coupled.

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Basic PTM Setup

Particles can be injected into the domain on boundary condition patches and
using volume particle injection regions. We will inject the water particles at the
inlet z boundary
Double Click on inlet z to open the boundary details
Click the Fluid Values tab
Check Define Particle Behaviour
Specify particle inputs as shown in the image to the
right
Dont forget to enter a Particle Diameter Distribution!
Click OK to apply the settings and close the tab


Remember that the modeled particles are a representative sample of the actual
particles and the number of particles modeled will be much smaller than the
real number of particles
In this case, 100 randomly located particles will be injected at the inlet z
boundary condition location
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Basic PTM Setup
Double-click Output control
Click the Particles tab
The amount of particle track data
recorded in the results file can be
specified as follows
All Track Positions: Point data is collected
for all track positions, as determined by the
Track Positions setting.
Control Volume Faces: Points are written
each time a sub-control volume boundary is
crossed. This produces the more precise and
larger track files than the other option.
In this case, nothing will be changed, so
close the form
Exit CFX-Pre, and then in Workbench,
double-click Solution to open the Solver
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Run CFX
After last Iteration &
just before Solver stops
you can find Particle
Diagnostic Information
in the Out File
Introduction Model Setup Basic PTM CFD Post Modifications Summary
When the Solver opens, click Start Run









Particle tracking is solved at the end of the fluid
solution, as shown opposite
When you have finished examining the output, close
the Solver Manager window
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CFD Post
Double-click Results to launch CFD-Post

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CFD Post
Double-click Res PT for Droplet
Under Geometry, set the Max Tracks to 100
Under Color, set Mode to Variable, and color by Droplet.Temperature
Click Apply


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CFD Post
Double-click on Res PT for Droplets
Under Geometry, set the Max
Tracks to 50
Under Color, set Mode to Variable,
and color by Droplet.Particle Time
Under Symbol, check Show
Symbols
Set the Max Time to User Specified
at 0.2 [s], Min Time to 0.0 [s] and
Interval to 0.05 [s]
Click Apply

Particle tracks are coloured by particle time. The colour legend shows it takes about 0.2s for
the droplets to pass through the model. The symbols are plotted every 0.05s along the
trajectories. Initially all the symbols are together in the top pipe, however as they meet the
main flow more scatter is evident as some tracks are accelerated more than others.
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Modifications
Using a range of droplet sizes
A Rosin Rammler distribution can be used to determine the
distribution of the mass flow amongst particle sizes. The mass fraction,
R , above a given particle diameter, d , is calculated from:



where d
e
is a measure of the fineness and is equal to the diameter at
which R is 1/e or 0.368. The spread parameter, , is a measure of
dispersion of particle sizes, a lower value indicating a wider dispersion.
A typical value of for pulverized fuels is 1 to 1.3 and for sprays is 1.5
to 3.0. Given d
e
and , it is possible to calculate the particle size
distribution.


(
(

|
|
.
|

\
|
=

e
d
d
R exp
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Modifications
Go back to edit the Setup in Workbench to open CFX-Pre
On the inlet z boundary go to the Fluid Values Tab and change the
Particle Diameter Distribution Option to Rosin Rammler
Enter settings as shown below
Click OK
Now close CFX-Pre
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Modifications
In Workbench, right-
click Solution and
select Update
The solver will run in the
background with the new
settings
When a green check-box
appears next to Solution,
double-click Results to open
CFD-Post
In CFD-Post, look at the
updated particle tracks
It can be seen that some
particles now strike the
lower pipe wall

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Modifications
Trapping droplets on the wall
Until now the particles are being reflected at the wall boundaries
(default boundary condition is for perfectly elastic wall collisions)









It will next be shown how to terminate tracking of particles when they
hit a wall boundary. This is done by setting both restitution coefficients
to zero.

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Modifications
Return to the Setup
Double Click on wall in the Outline Tree
Go to the Fluid Values tab
Set restitution coefficients to zero (see below)
Click OK
Update the solution and view results as before
Take a look at the Particle Diagnostics in the Out File:
14 Particles
hit the wall
(number
may vary)
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Summary
This work workshop has shown how CFX can be used to simulate the
motion of fluid droplets (or solid particles) that are carried along by
the fluid.
Regular CFD simulations are performed in an Eulerian reference
frame. The mesh remains fixed, and material flows through the grid
(aka mesh) cells. When simulating particle tracks, these move in a
Lagrangian reference frame. The particles/droplets each have their
own X,Y,Z co-ordinates and their properties are stored separately from
the grid cell (normal data) file quantities.
Here we have performed several different particle-trajectory
simulations to investigate:
The effect of droplet diameter
The effect of droplets being trapped as they hit a wall
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Summary
Using the discrete-phase model, there are several other enhancements to this
basic setup that we could simulate:
Coupling the PTM motion to that of the continuous phase (so that the surrounding
air has its own momentum / temperature modified by the presence of the droplets).
Note: for fully coupled runs, usually it is not necessary to solve the PTM at every
flow iteration. Typically the PTM field needs updating every 5-10 flow iterations.
Including turbulent effects : This flow is turbulent, which will impart a random
motion on the water droplets. The way we resolve this is to use stochastic tracking.
Taking erosion into account: There is a choice of two erosion models, those of Finnie
and Tabakoff. Additional information on the implementation of these models is
available in Basic Erosion Models in the CFX-Solver Theory Guide.
Simulating multi-component particles:
Sample application : An industrial spray drier. Solid particles are introduced which
have a moisture content. Thermal energy is taken from the surrounding fluid, the
moisture is removed from the particles making them lighter. Simultaneously this
water is added in vapor phase to the continuous phase
Simulating reacting particles:
Sample application : A coal burner for a power station. The volatile components of
the coal particle evaporate, and react with the surrounding air generating heat.


Introduction Model Setup Basic PTM CFD Post Modifications Summary