Numerical simulation of half-full cylindrical and bi-lobed storage tanks against the sloshing phenomenon

Abstract

This paper examines sloshing dynamics in cylindrical and bi-lobed liquid storage tanks including horizontal cylinders, vertical cylinders, horizontal bi-lobes, and vertical bi-lobes. The influence of baffle was evaluated, and the analysis presented accounts for sway induced hydrodynamic force as the criterion to compare different scenarios. To do this, the sloshing phenomenon was modeled by OpenFOAM based on coupled RANS solver and VOF method, and the RANS equations were discretized by the Finite Volume Method, and solved by using the PIMPLE algorithm. Finally, an engineering method suggesting the find the best dimension of the tank and baffle for the case of a cylindrical and bi-lobed tanks is presented to minimize the horizontal force exerted along the tank motion.