Hybrid fictitious domain-immersed boundary solver coupled with discrete element method for simulations of flows laden with arbitrarily-shaped particles

Particle-laden flows are commonly encountered in numerous engineering applications, e.g. fluidization, crystallization, granulation, drying, catalytic cracking, food processing, biomass gasification, or suspension and slurry transport in general. However, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations containing freely moving and irregularly shaped bodies are still a challenging topic. More so, if the bodies are densely distributed and large enough to affect the fluid flow. In the present work, we propose a finite volume based CFD solver for mathematical modeling of the flow-induced movement of interacting irregular particles. The modeling approach uses a hybrid fictitious domain-immersed boundary method for inclusion of the solids. The bodies movements and contacts are solved via discrete element method (DEM). The new solver is implemented within the OpenFOAM framework, validated against data from literature, and utilized in simulations of catalytic washcoat deposition in a filter for automotive exhaust gas aftertreatment, considering a realistic size distribution of non-spherical catalyst microparticles.

Automated summary

This study proposes a finite volume based CFD solver for mathematical modeling of the flow-induced movement of interacting irregular particles. The modeling approach uses a hybrid fictitious domain-immersed boundary method for inclusion of the solids and solves the particle movements and contacts using discrete element method (DEM). The new solver is implemented within the OpenFOAM framework and has been validated against literature data.