Free‐Surface Turbulent Flow in an Eccentric Stirred Tank

• Published in: Chemical engineering & technology Vol. 40; no. 3; pp. 561 - 570
• Main Authors: Yang, Fengling, Zhou, Shenjie, Zhang, Cuixun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Frankfurt Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01-03-2017
• Subjects: Above ground tanks; Computational fluid dynamics; Computer simulation; Detached eddy simulation; Detaching; Eccentric agitation; Eccentricity; Fluid flow; Fluid mechanics; Free surface; Hydrodynamics; Mathematical models; Stirred tank; Tanks; Turbulence; Turbulent flow; Vortices
• ISSN: 0930-7516; 1521-4125
• DOI: 10.1002/ceat.201600354

This work aims at a reliable prediction of the flow dynamics in stirred tanks. The focus is on the free‐surface turbulent flow in an eccentric stirred tank by using the combination of detached‐eddy simulation and volume of fluid model. The flow field, profiles of the free surface, mean velocities, and the macroinstability phenomenon were explored and compared with the available experimental data. A reasonable representation of the free‐surface hydrodynamics was achieved. The findings indicate that the model and simulation strategies presented here can be used with sufficient confidence to predict the free‐surface hydrodynamics in stirred tanks.
Effective simulation of the flow dynamics in stirred tanks remains a major challenge due to its multidimensional and extremely complex nature. The free‐surface turbulent flow in an eccentric stirred tank is modeled using a combination of the detached‐eddy simulation and the volume of fluid model, affording a reasonable representation of the free‐surface hydrodynamics compared with experimental data.