Assessment of stress-blended eddy simulation on prediction of flow characteristics in a Rushton impeller stirred tank

Stressed-blended eddy simulation (SBES), a novel hybrid RANS-LES approach, offers enormous potential to improve the prediction of the scale-resolving flow. However, few studies have been carried out on complex flow in stirred tanks. In this study, the SBES model was used to investigate the flow characteristics in a Rushton turbine stirred tank. The quantitative predictions of phase-averaged and phase-resolved flow field, as well as turbulence characteristics were conducted to assess the comprehensive performance of SBES. The results were also compared with those obtained from the SAS-SST model and LES model, as well as experimental data. It is indicated that the SBES model offers excellent agreement with experimental data in velocity and turbulence quantities, especially for the prediction of radial, tangential velocity and turbulent kinetic energy. Moreover, SBES model can successfully capture the features of trailing vortices and resolve more turbulence structure than the SAS-SST model with moderate computational grids.

Automated summary

This study investigated the flow characteristics in a stirred tank using the SBES model, and the results showed that the model accurately predicted velocity and turbulence quantities, and successfully captured the features of trailing vortices.