EFFICIENCY PREDICTION FOR STORAGE CHAMBERS USING COMPUTATIONAL FLUID-DYNAMICS

Research was undertaken in order to identify possible methodologies fo r the prediction of sedimentation in storage chambers based on computa tional fluid dynamics (CFD). The FLUENT CFD software was used to estab lish a numerical model of the flow field, on which further analysis wa s undertaken. Sedimentation was estimated from the simulated flow fiel ds by two different methods. The first approach used the simulation to predict the bed shear stress distribution, with deposition being assu med for areas where the bed shear stress fell below a critical value ( tau(cd)). The value of tau(cd) had previously been determined in the l aboratory. Efficiency was then calculated as a function of the proport ion of the chamber bed for which deposition had been predicted. The se cond method used the particle tracking facility in FLUENT and efficien cy was calculated from the proportion of particles that remained withi n the chamber. The results from the two techniques for efficiency are compared to data collected in a laboratory chamber. Three further simu lations were then undertaken in order to investigate the influence of length to breadth ratio on chamber performance. The methodology presen ted here could be applied to complex geometries and full scale install ations.