Computational domain discretization for CFD analysis of flow in a granular packed bed

Abstract

The paper reports results of an analysis concerning the infuence of a computational domain discretization method on the numerical stability of a model as well as the calculation error. The topology of a packed bed of a granular material consisting of granules contacting tangentially in one point makes the modeling of heat and mass transfer due to the fluid flow in such a domain a chalenging task. Therefore, the contribution of this paper constitutes a summary of discretization methods with discussion and guidelines allowing one to effectively select the most favourable method dedicated to discretization of the domain. The validation using Particle Image Velocimetry and evaluation of the impact of inflow velocity on the experimental and numerical research results are also presented in the paper.

Evaluation of Heat Transfer Performance of a Multi-Disc Sorption Bed Dedicated for Adsorption Cooling Technology

“…N-total number of cells in the computational domain; Mesh dependency studies based on the grid convergence index (GCI) were carried out in order to estimate the numerical accuracy resulting from the mesh resolution. The GCI is recommended by the Fluids Engineering Division of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) to estimate the discretization error and was successfully applied in many research [61][62][63][64]. Three numerical meshes of different resolutions were generated for the analyzed geometry in order to estimate the discretization error with GCI.…”

Application of Polyhedral Mesh for Vortex Formation Study for Simple Single Pump Sump

“…As with tetrahedral mesh, it can be easily applied and quicker to employ for complex bodies but with a lower number of mesh, thereby resulting in faster iterations. While Spiegel et al, [24] employed polyhedral mesh for cerebral hemodynamic simulation, Sosnowski et al, [23,25,27,28], and Sosnowski [26] employed this mesh for flow studies in the fluidized bed chemical loop combustion unit, air-water heat exchanger, an aerodynamics of a vehicle, building arrangement and granular packed bed. It was found that the use of polyhedral mesh is beneficial as the high number of neighbors and low number of elements and iterations can lead to converged and accurate solutions that is comparable to the hexahedral mesh.…”