V. Nassehi, MODELING OF COMBINED NAVIER-STOKES AND DARCY FLOWS IN CROSS-FLOW MEMBRANE FILTRATION, Chemical Engineering Science, 53(6), 1998, pp. 1253-1265
Computer simulation of the flow field in crossflow membrane filtration
in a porous tube and shell system depends on the imposition of permea
ble wall conditions on the surface of the inner tube. Porous wall cond
itions are often represented by the Darcy equation which relates the p
ressure gradients within a flow stream to the how rates through the pe
rmeable walls of the flow domain. In crossflow filtration the feed str
eam which flows tangentially to the porous tube surface is modelled by
the Navier-Stokes equations. These equations represent viscous lamina
r Newtonian flow. They can also be generalised to deal with non-elasti
c, non-Newtonian fluids. The existence of viscous stress terms in the
:Navier-Stokes equations, which are expressed in terms of second-order
partial derivatives, makes the straightforward linking of these equat
ions to the Darcy equation in a numerical solution scheme impossible.
Therefore, in order to develop a fluid dynamical model for crossflow f
iltration, special techniques which resolve this difficulty must be us
ed. In this paper first, various methods of linking the Navier-Stokes
and the Darcy equations in a solution scheme are considered and the st
rength and weaknesses of these methods are discussed. Following this d
iscussion the details of a novel method which is used to develop a rob
ust, accurate and cost-effective finite-element simulation scheme for
the combined Navier-Stokes/Darcy flows in crossflow filtration is pres
ented. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.