Coupled continuum and molecular model of flow through fibrous filter

Abstract

A coupled approach combining the continuum boundary singularity method (BSM) and the molecular direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) is developed and validated using Taylor-Couette flow and the flow about a single fiber confined between two parallel walls. In the proposed approach, the DSMC is applied to an annular region enclosing the fiber and the BSM is employed in the entire flow domain. The parameters used in the DSMC and the coupling procedure, such as the number of simulated particles, the cell size, and the size of the coupling zone are determined by inspecting the accuracy of pressure drop obtained for the range of Knudsen numbers between zero and unity. The developed approach is used to study flowfield of fibrous filtration flows. It is observed that in the partial-slip flow regime, Kn ⩽ 0.25, the results obtained by the proposed coupled BSM-DSMC method match the solution by BSM combined with the heuristic partial-slip boundary conditions. For transition molecular-to-continuum Knudsen numbers, 0.25 < Kn ⩽ 1, the difference in pressure drop and velocity between these two approaches is significant. This difference increases with the Knudsen number that confirms the usefulness of coupled continuum and molecular methods in numerical modeling of transition low Reynolds number flows in fibrous filters.