Numerical Simulation Of Pressure Drop In Flow Over Fixed Porous Beds

By Jonathan Olatunbosun

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2015 in the subject Engineering - Mechanical Engineering, language: English, abstract: The study of porous beds has attracted a wide range of attention in recent years. One issue that has remained standing is that of accurate modelling of the behaviour of pressure drop. This project therefore attempts to add to the existing knowledge in the area by performing a simple numerical simulation of pressure in flow over fixed porous beds. In performing this simulation, the model was governed by two fluid flow principles, the conservation of mass and conservation of momentum using the Brinkman Equations. COMSOL Multiphysics was employed in helping to solve this model because it uses a discretization of finite elements in solving a set of partial differential equations that help to promote accuracy of results. The model involved a rectangular porous bed measuring (25 m 2 m) for porosity values of 0.2-0.9 at intervals of 0.1 and air and water were used as working fluids. From the simulation performed, the velocity of the porous bed increases for all porosity values by 8.25%. For the range of porosity values between 0.2 and 0.9, the maximum pressure at the inlet of the porous bed was1134.42 Pa. for water and 20.38 Pa for air which occurred at a velocity of 4 10 -5 m/s and the minimum pressure at the outlet of the porous bed was 0.045 Pa forwater and 8.16 10 -4 Pa for air which occurred at a velocity of 4 10 -8 m/s. It can be concluded that a safe range of porosity values in minimizing pressure drop can be found at higher porosity values. This is useful in the design of industrial equipment such as packed bed reactors as deemed fit.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 3668186618
• ISBN13: 9783668186613
• Release Date: April 2016
• Publisher: Grin Verlag
• Length: 88 Pages
• Weight: 0.28 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 5.8" x 8.3"