Abstract
Pattern of fluid flow through open-cell foams is important because of its influence on the performance of processes such as filtration, adsorption and heterogeneous catalysis that make use of such foams. So far, however, the experimental verification of velocity profiles obtained by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation was insufficient. Here, the effect of morphology of ceramic foams on local gas flow patterns is observed via the noninvasive magnetic resonance velocimetry (MRV) technique. In order to cross-validate the simulations with the experimental flow mapping results, micro-computed tomography (µCT) data of the entire foams were used for generating the computational network required for 3D CFD simulations of velocity fields within the pores. The results of CFD simulations and MRV measurements of gas flow showed a remarkable agreement with deviations mainly below 10 percent if the whole foam structure was utilized in CFD simulations. The qualitative and quantitative agreement between CFD and MRV results underlines the reliability of CFD simulations that are based on µCT data and underpins the capability of NMR-based measurements for in situ velocity measurements.Graphic abstract
Highlights
Open-cell foams which are known as solid sponges benefit from advantageous morphological properties such as a continuous solid network, the possibility for lateral flow, high porosity and large specific surface area (Zhu et al 2018)
Gas flow within open-cell foams was investigated numerically by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation, and the results were compared to magnetic resonance velocimetry (MRV) measurements
In a first step of this investigation of gas flow pattern in ceramic open-cell foams, mesh-independent CFD calculations were validated against conventional pressure drop correlations
Summary
Open-cell foams which are known as solid sponges benefit from advantageous morphological properties such as a continuous solid network, the possibility for lateral flow, high porosity and large specific surface area (Zhu et al 2018). These structural features make open-cell foams superior compared to other structures such as honeycombs and pellets in terms of low pressure drop, high thermal conductivity and excellent solid–gas heat and mass transfer. A number of studies experimentally investigated the impact of these morphological characteristics on fluid flow parameters and thermal performance, such as pressure loss (Kumar and Topin 2017; Della Torre et al 2014; Inayat et al 2016), effective thermal conductivity (Bracconi et al 2018; Ranut et al 2015) and heat transfer coefficient (Xia et al 2017; Dietrich 2013)
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