Multiphase CFD Simulation of a Solid Bowl Centrifuge

Abstract

This study presents some results from the numerical simulation of the flow in an industrial solid bowl centrifuge used for particle separation in industrial fluid processing. The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software Fluent was used to simulate this multiphase flow. Simplified two-dimensional and three-dimensional geometries were built and meshed from the real centrifuge geometry. The CFD results show a boundary layer of axially fast moving fluid at the gas-liquid interface. Below this layer there is a thin recirculation. The obtained tangential velocity values are lower than the ones for the rigid-body motion. Also, the trajectories of the solid particles are evaluated.

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