A multi-scale approach for CFD calculations of gas–liquid flow within large size column equipped with structured packing

Abstract

This work has been carried out in the framework of post-combustion CO 2 capture process development. Considering the huge amount of gases to be treated and the constraints in terms of pressure drop, it appears that the absorption column will be equipped with high efficiency high capacity packings such as structured packings. The present paper focuses on the CFD modellisation of the two-phase flow within this complex geometry. For limited computational resources reasons, it is presently impossible to run computations at large scales taking into account the gas–liquid interaction and the real geometry of the packing and original approaches must be developed. In the present work, a multi-scale approach is proposed. It first considers liquid–wall and liquid–gas interaction at small scale via two-phase flow calculations using the VOF method. Second, the latter results are used in three-dimensional calculations run at a meso-scale corresponding to a periodic element representative of the real packing geometry. Last, those results are further used at large scale in three-dimensional calculations with a geometry corresponding to a complete column. Results are compared with experimental data and with other CFD simulations in terms of liquid hold-up, pressure drop and unit operation. Some suggestions are made for further development.