CFD Simulation and Validation of Phase Particle Entrapment

Abstract

A cost-effective and efficient technology was developed to remove particulate and fibrous matter from a container while avoiding dispersing the particles in the environment. This paper presents the whole process of computationally developing a conceptual system which can efficiently remove particles in the size range of 5–1000 μm from the container. The present work offers the unique virtue that prototyping can be easily followed and it shows an efficient, safe, low-cost method in the early product design stage. In the presented system, a viscous medium was designed to capture and flocculate the particulate matter. One of the factors which will lower the operating costs is that the viscous medium can be easily recycled and the flocculated particles with minimal volume can be disposed of safely. The ANSYS FLUENT package was used to simulate our proposed design. The effects of various particle size, specific gravity, and pressure-velocity boundary conditions on separation efficiency of the design have been studied by using different multiphase models along with viscous and discreet phase models.